In Thailand, the government has closed beaches where tourists have caused the destruction of ecology and corals. Subsequently, they banned cruise ships the size of Leviathan from docking. But in Rome they can’t even pick up the garbage.
After the Covid fall, the number of foreign tourist arrivals to Italy in May this year increased by 15% from last year, or around 7. 7 million, one million more than last year; 68 million visitors are expected this year. The vast majority of those tourists flock to Italy’s top attractions, with ferries ferrying tens of thousands of people to Capri every day and caravans of buses to travel through the ruins of Pompeii.
Crowds line up to take pictures in silly poses in front of the backdrop of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. The captivating town of Amalfi is now just a square packed with cafes and pizzerias with a single uphill street covered with souvenir department stores selling bottles of limoncello and T-shirts.
Even places that were once of momentary interest to tourists, such as Milan, Genoa, Bari, Sorrento, and Verona, are now overwhelmed. They are also very wealthy: tourism is Italy’s largest industry; Manufacturing comes in second.
Nowhere is it worse than in Rome, where it can take hours to get into the Vatican Museum; reservations several days in advance to get very expensive tickets for Villa Borghese; and the weight of the Trevi Fountain makes it a real challenge to make your way through the crowds. The streets are dirty, graffiti is scrawled on all the old buildings, the buses and trams are dirty, and the subway is rudimentary. I asked the hotel concierge what bus number to take you to a destination and he said, “I don’t know. I haven’t taken a bus in twenty years. “
Certainly, Italy does not suffer such misfortunes in good times. International tourism is on the rise everywhere, with Paris, London, Barcelona and Reykjavik recording record numbers.
People enjoy the sea on Torre Faro beach on a hot summer day in Messina on August 11th. . . [ ] 2021. (Photo by Giovanni ISOLINO / AFP) (Photo by GIOVANNI ISOLINO/AFP Getty Images)
One of the many post-Covid reasons for this onslaught is warmer – much warmer – temperatures at the beginning and end of the year, prolonging the tourist season for at least two months. In already warmer climates like Italy and Greece, the off-season is almost non-existent, and people travel year-round. These weather conditions are accompanied by sweltering and sweltering temperatures that cause sweltering heat waves in summer. Even Italians who head to the beaches of Sicily in summer find the heat unbearable. And air conditioning is a very rare piece of equipment.
Italy has been all too successful in attracting other people from all over the world, whether it’s because of its wide variety of herbal beauty or its myriad cultural achievements dating back to the Roman Empire. The appeal is aimed at both Asians and Europeans. and Americans, and today there will be as many Chinese and South Koreans queuing for the Uffizi Museum in Florence or the Sistine Chapel in Rome as there are Americans in those days.
View of a crowd of people seated in the Spanish Steps (designed by Francesco de Sanctis, 1725), Array. of the Monti. (Photo via Dan Porges/Getty Images)
For someone who has traveled to Italy dozens of times over the course of fifty years, the experience began to be more of an arduous task than a restorative pleasure. Where before I was in the Plaza de España with a cup of ice, thinking about it. At the idyllic moment when Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck did the same in the 1953 film “Roman Holiday,” playing on the stairs is now forbidden — and well-policed — due to the incessant damage to the monument by tourists.
There is, however, an irony in the tourist invasion that has managed to keep Italy’s food and wine culture alive: the fact is that many tourists arrive in places like Capri or Vegreat in the morning and leave late, after noon, which is a boon only for the souvenir department stores and pizzeria owners. This means that visitors don’t sit down at noon to enjoy a big lunch or stay until dinner, which allows those of us who do, in addition to the Italians themselves, to have a pasta and a glass of wine.
Al Moro is an ancient Roman restaurant favorite of Federico Fellini.
Nowhere on a trip to Rome this month was this more evident than at Al Moro, a 1920s eater’s place that was once beloved by Federico Fellini and his film audience. It is still very popular and the food is excellent – their specialties such as fettuccine alla Moro were perfected. Decades ago. You might still want to make a dinner reservation, but at lunchtime, my wife and I discovered it almost empty at one o’clock. Still, just around the corner, the boisterous, overwhelming and cacophonous crowd at the Trevi Fountain made access to the place to eat difficult. These tourists don’t eat at places to eat like Al Moro; They eat pizza or an Italian sandwich if they have time.
In autumn, Italians dine on porcini mushrooms in all kinds of dishes.
During two weeks of dinner in Italy, from Rome to Sorrento, I ate as delicious as ever. The food, from the gleaming fresh seafood presented on a table in the front to the abundance of fall porcini mushrooms lavished on pasta and risottos, didn’t feel any drop in quality or try to cater to a crowd of tourists. What’s more, prices haven’t dropped from pre-Covid levels: a very generous plate of rigatoni alla carbonara or tagliolini cacio e pepe can cost between €12 and €14 in a trattoria and €16 to €20 in a more exclusive ristorante. A smart space wine jug can cost €12 and wine lists include many bottles for less than €30. And for the most part of that obvious generosity, you get starched tablecloths, dim lighting, comfortable, tidy seating, and a very civilized noise level. And service is included, so you don’t want to tip.
Dish from Rome, Spaghetti alla carbonara made with eggs and bacon.
So, while I’m tired of battling the crowds on the streets of Italy, I’m never happier than when I walk through the door of a restaurant, whether I’m new to it or new, to come back, relax, and enjoy. away from the raging crowds beyond.
The greatness of Rome is still there, it takes longer and longer to see it. But time is still standing still in front of a plate of spaghetti all’amatriciana.