{"id":2567,"date":"2014-02-10T16:50:19","date_gmt":"2014-02-10T15:50:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rickzullo.com\/?p=2567"},"modified":"2021-09-11T21:45:42","modified_gmt":"2021-09-11T19:45:42","slug":"italy-magazine-blogger-awards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/italy-magazine-blogger-awards\/","title":{"rendered":"Italy Magazine Blogger Awards!"},"content":{"rendered":"

This post carries the sole intention of expressing a very sincere thank you to everyone who supported me in the Italy Magazine Blogger\u00a0Awards<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0 I\u2019m proud to announce that, improbably, I won.<\/p>\n

A few weeks ago, my blog was selected for the \u201cTop-5 Shortlist\u201d among 54 well-deserving nominees; all of which represent extremely knowledgeable and talented English language writers in Italy.\u00a0 This alone was an incredible honor and truly, I would have been happy with just that.\u00a0 The fact that I actually won is beyond my expectations.<\/p>\n

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Seriously, this is a HUGE deal for me.\u00a0 For those who don\u2019t know my story, several years ago I left a secure career in the US to find out what else life had to offer besides security.\u00a0 Not coincidentally, I came to Italy to look for those answers\u2014because, well, Italy offers just about everything except<\/i> security (and maybe that\u2019s one of the things that appealed to me in some masochistic way).\u00a0 Rather, as I wrote in a recent post, \u201cItaly offers an abundance of the things that touch our humanity at the deepest levels: art, food, music, beauty, family, and a tangible connection with human history.\u201d\u00a0 (How pretentious of me to quote myself! \u00a0See what a little success can do to a person?)<\/p>\n

\"italy<\/a>
I won!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As clich\u00e9 as it sounds, moving to a foreign country is not unlike being reborn.\u00a0 You must start all over again, beginning with the language, and then from there you must unlearn\/relearn all of your \u201cabsolutes\u201d and cultural reference points.\u00a0 The blog has been my effort to chronicle that journey and in doing so, digest the impact it has had on my outlook on life.\u00a0 I know that I have offended a few people and made some errors along the way. \u00a0But by exposing my mistakes publicly on my blog, I hold myself accountable for learning from them.<\/p>\n

Beyond all of that introspection is quite simply a true and sincere love for Italian culture.\u00a0 I never grow tired of discovering another little corner of the postcard-ready landscape, another artistic treasure in the most remote location, or those idiosyncratic social norms that constantly make me scratch my head in disbelief.\u00a0 They touch me just as profoundly today as they did when I first visited Italy on a vacation 14 years ago.<\/p>\n

The writers and editors at Italy Magazine<\/a> know all of this very well, and do an incredible job of presenting a complete and balanced portrait of this culturally rich country.\u00a0 Indeed, in Italy the challenge is not in finding interesting things to talk about, but rather performing the impossible task of deciding which topics are the most<\/i> interesting and presenting them in fresh ways.\u00a0 Italy Magazine does this better than any other publication, online or in print, and I\u2019m humbly honored to be associated with them.<\/p>\n

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Complimenti a tutti voi!<\/h2>\n

I would like to also mention the following friends\u2019 blogs who were also on the short list in various categories. \u00a0These aren\u2019t all the nominees, just the ones that I\u2019m personally in contact with on a regular basis.\u00a0 Congratulations to you all!<\/p>\n

Margie in Italy<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0Margie is an inspiration to anyone who is passionate about Italy and Italian culture.\u00a0 To me personally, she has been beyond generous with her support and with her friendship, and she has introduced me to many other Italo-philes in the blogosphere.\u00a0 Her blog chronicles her travels through Italy, which led to her first book first book,\u00a0\u201cMemoirs of a Solo Traveler \u2013 My Love Affair with Italy,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0which is based on her blog.\u00a0 She\u2019s working on a second book, \u201cMy Love Affair with Sicily,\u201d which will be available later this year.<\/p>\n

Capturing La Vita<\/a>\u00a0 Laurel is a fellow Floridian and part time Tuscan whose blog is full of her travel adventures in Italy (often with bambini on board) and her amazing photography, as well as some hard journalism.\u00a0 She is currently writing a book on the Costa Concordia tragedy, which she is personally researching on-site on the island of Giglio.<\/p>\n

Surviving in Italy<\/a>\u00a0 Misty\u2019s blog is a hilarious combination of her useful insights and sharp wit.\u00a0 She pulls no punches\u2014if there\u2019s a filter in place, I haven\u2019t detected it.\u00a0 Read at your own risk.\u00a0 Her blog won the award for Best Living in Italy Single Post.\u00a0 Congrats, Misty!\u00a0 Keep writing and don\u2019t let ever let anyone try to edit you!<\/p>\n

Over a Tuscan Stove<\/a>\u00a0 Judy is one of the writers who generously contributed to my restaurant guide and is THE English-speaking authority on Tuscan cuisine.\u00a0 If you\u2019re travelling in the Chianti area, make sure to download her iPhone app.\u00a0 Better yet, look her up for a food tour or cooking class!<\/p>\n

Timeless Italy<\/a>\u00a0 Susan\u2019s blog is the place to go if you\u2019re an art and art history lover.\u00a0 Honestly, I don\u2019t know how she produces so much rich content week after week.\u00a0 She has the knowledge of a professor but the voice of a patient tour guide as she introduces you to Italy\u2019s many artistic treasures.<\/p>\n

Diario of a Studentessa Matta<\/a>\u00a0 Melissa\u2019s blog is all about the language.\u00a0 Incredibly, her posts are written in both English and Italian\u2014something I could never do.\u00a0\u00a0 And if you want to really understand Italy, then you must know at least a little about what Byron called, \u201cthat soft bastard Latin, which melts like kisses from a female mouth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adventures of a Carry-on<\/a>\u00a0 Penny\u2019s blog is a diverse sampling of everything beautiful about Italy, from art and architecture, to food and fashion.\u00a0 She\u2019s a talented photographer and a professional make-up artist, as well.\u00a0 As a side note, her blog design inspired me to update my own blog about six months ago, and I\u2019m quite sure it has made a difference in expanding my audience.<\/p>\n

Bella Bagni di Lucca<\/a>\u00a0 Debra writes a couple blogs, but this one won the award for Best Single Italy Travel Blog Post, and deservingly so.\u00a0 If you\u2019re charmed by the life in small town Italy, then check out her delightful collection of villages in the Serchio Valley.<\/p>\n

Grazie ancora<\/h2>\n

OK, I just don\u2019t think that I could end this post without one more GRAZIE to everyone who voted for me and shared my blog with their friends and contacts.\u00a0 Really, it means a great deal to me.\u00a0 And a special thanks to Italy Magazine<\/a> for providing a venue for all the diverse voices out there who share their passion for this beautiful, crazy, alluring, puzzling, wonderful country.\u00a0\u00a0 Ciao!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This post carries the sole intention of expressing a very sincere thank you to everyone who supported me in the Italy Magazine Blogger\u00a0Awards.\u00a0 I\u2019m proud to announce that, improbably, I won. A few weeks ago, my blog was selected for the \u201cTop-5 Shortlist\u201d among 54 well-deserving nominees; all of which represent extremely knowledgeable and talented […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2568,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[169,285],"tags":[320,201,52,200,286],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2567"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2567"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2567\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}