«StSummer often lives in memories, in the frames of images fixed in memory and sometimes charged with no small amount of nostalgia. Because summer is also an idea of happiness: a refuge, a return to nature or an ideal place for our youth. Everyone in this has its own recipe, its own history: made up of roundabouts on the sea, lonely beaches, or crowded night spots; or of pristine peaks, pastures or the scented shade of some woods».
Start like this Summer by Alessandro Vanoli (Il Mulino), the essay that concludes the series dedicated to “The Seasons” with the story of the most awaited but also more fleeting one. If it is true that today summer refers to nostalgia, the author wonders, who knows what inspired our ancestors: the journey through art, music, literature starts from this doubt, in search of summer in history.
From the apparitions of Greek deities to the heat of contemporary cities and the crowded exotic places of our holidays. Summer in the catchphrases but also in the great classics of summer music. Starting to read such a story can make sense especially today that it is the solstice, an excellent opportunity to organize some trips worthy of the summer of 2023.
The journey into the ocean depths
You go to the discovery of a mysterious world where sharks have reigned supreme for 450 million years. Where? At the central station of Milan with the exhibition Sharks and the deep, perfect predators in an alien land, which can be visited until 29 October (every day from 10 to 20), which is an experience designed for adults and children that ranges from the warm tropical sea to the cold arctic waters, from gigantic squids to tiny luminescent animals. The appointment is an opportunity to admire up close the life-size reconstructions of the most spectacular sharks from every corner of the planet: the tactile bas-relief sculptures and the documentaries make it possible to discover the internal anatomy of these formidable predators.
Veneto by bike: from Chioggia to Malamocco
Destination: Venice. Departure: Isamar Holiday Village in Isolaverde di Chioggia (VE). We are in the heart of the Po Delta Park (Unesco biosphere reserve) and the easy route (recommended for adults and children) promises panoramas between picturesque islands, natural oases and history. First step: Chioggia, the little Venice also reported by the New York Times for its artistic jewels and for the presence of beaches equipped for families (from Sottomarina to Isamar). And here it is worth taking a stroll among the piers and canals, visit the medieval historic center to discover the city of Eleonora Duse from the colored and aligned houses, the hidden squares, the bragozzi (typical fishing boats with hand-painted sails and sacred figures that protect the prow). Do not miss the fish market on Thursday morning which can be reached with the shuttle made available by the Isamar village.
View of Chioggia (Press Office)
Continue on two wheels to the landing place of the Actv vaporetto, just below “el gato de Ciosa” (the monumental column that looks out to sea from the square): bike on board and off to the second stage, the island of Pellestrina, 13 kilometers long and 210 kilometers wide, with pristine beaches and colorful houses protected by eighteenth-century walls. A journey of about 9 km up to Santa Maria del Mare and you get on the ferry that connects Pellestrina with the Lido of Venice.
The third stage begins at the Alberoni-Faro Rocchetta landinga nature reserve area where you can admire the picturesque village of Malamocco, the ancient port that stood at the mouth of the Medoacus (the current Brenta). Now you can opt for two paths: you can stay on the cycle path and follow the entire backbone of the Lido along via Sandro Gallo up to Santa Maria Elisabetta, or you can enter the heart of the Lido towards the Marconi seafront arriving as far as Città Giardino.
From here, or can be reached Venice by ferry or vaporetto or you can return to Chioggia to rest on the green flag beach since 2016 and recommended by the Association of Italian Pediatricians for its natural characteristics. But not only: the depths of the Tegnùethe area that fishermen call for the ability of the rocks to hold and break the nets, they offer sponges, anemones, colonial sea squirts, small hermit crabs and large lobsters (Isamar Diving Center organizes excursions).
UlisseFest: a journey to celebrate
We are in Pesaro and it will be held from 13 to 16 July UlyssesFest. The travel party. That is 150 guests and 50 appointments, a four-day event conceived and organized by the publishing house EDT, partner of Lonely Planet and promoted by the municipality of Pesaro, Italian capital of culture 2024. The theme of this sixth edition is Between chaos and poetrytwo opposing sensations that we often experience when we are away from home, in places whose language, food, traditions and habits we are unaware of, overwhelmed by diversity and a sense of confusion.
Each journey is a precarious balance between chaos and poetry. But chaos is also a figure of our daily life, that’s why we travel: to look elsewhere and find poetry. Among the guests: Franco Arminio, Vinicio Capossela, Moreno Cedroni, Simone Cristicchi and Amara, Bill De Blasio, Donatella Di Pietrantonio, Umberto Galimberti, Saimir Kristo, Vito Mancuso, Mike Maric, Eliades Ochoa, Stefania Parmeggiani, Carlo Ratti, Stefano Senardi, Cecilia Sala, Tony Wheeler. «The United Nations World Tourism Organization recorded, before the pandemic, 1.5 billion tourists worldwide. This figure is enough to remind us how urgent it is to reflect on the theme of travel, its story, its implications», comments Angelo Pittro, director of Lonely Planet Italia.
Vanlife-style travel
Waiting for the 14th edition of the Campervan loungescheduled from 9 to 17 September 2023, you can opt for one of the suggested itineraries in the six selected regions: we start from Friuli Venezia Giulia with Sportland, i.e. itineraries in Carnia dedicated to outdoor sports; continue in Emilia Romagna discovering the Food Valley which from Reggio Emilia reaches Parma via Felino and Langhirano; he stops in the Marches with one beach a day from Fano to San Benedetto del Tronto; you arrive in Abruzzo to cross the Costa dei trabocchi; you visit the Molise villages passing through the sheep tracks and yes descends in Sicilyon the via dei Fenici.
The expo, visited last year by over 110,000 visitors (+10% on 2021), is also a happening designed for all curious travelers who will get lost in the one hundred thousand square meters and among the over 300 exhibitors (there are also activities in those days designed for the little ones, the sports to try, Pilates courses, bike tests, Agility trials and games for pets).
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