This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)

We used to be more different

When I started traveling in Western Europe it still felt like going to other worlds. There were borders and you were asked for documents; currencies were different and you had to change money also because credit cards were used less; it cost a fortune to make phone calls. People dressed differently and in the shopping streets there was not the same parade of identical stores as now.

But even then, perhaps influenced by my early Europeanist ideals, I basically felt a little at home in the sense of being a citizen of a great country called Europe. There is no more difference between a Romagnolo and a Bavarian than there is between a Valdostano and a Salentino; while there is plenty between a Tuscan and a Thai.

We also slaughtered each other until not too many years ago, now it seems obvious to us to travel in Western Europe, but our fields have been fertilized for centuries by armies fighting each other over alleged religious issues that now seem laughable to us. We may live in one of the areas of the world where historically there have been more wars.

But culture and mentality are more similar than some short-sighted politicians would have us believe, and anyway if European countries did not fully unite, we would be too small and insignificant in the world.

Short trips to Western Europe

I am arch-convinced that to really disconnect and immerse oneself in the trip, one must be away for at least ten days; my English begins to melt after the third day, and if I happen to speak only in English, I dream in Shakespeare’s language (more or less) after a week.

But you can’t always have so many days and I try to take advantage of all the possibilities the calendar offers me, obviously most often in Italy, but also in the rest of Europe, so much so that my list of places to visit for the first time in a few days is almost exhausted. This is a slew of anecdotes remedied during long weekends or little trips taken to the following countries

• Sweden
• Austria
• Denmark
• Germany(Oktober fest)
• Ireland
• Switzerland
• Liechtenstein

My travel in Western Europe of course also consists of longer trips to other countries, so ad hoc stories have come out of that.

Next stop The frozen sea, that time I ate the reindeer (not Santa’s)

Trips taken, travel stories divided by continent

Countries visited in my travel stories

Anecdotes, divided by type in travel narratives

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Fabio Viroli

Ho sempre avuto tante passioni, ma da sempre più o meno latenti, le principali sono viaggiare e scrivere. Tra le altre cose ho una laurea in psicologia; ho fatto per più di 30 anni l’allenatore di basket; leggo tanti libri; sono stato molto appassionato di sport e di musica rock; e faccio improvvisazione teatrale

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