Skip to Content

Getting Back to Italy and Blogging

After a five-week pause, spent in England and Bulgaria, I am now back to Italy and re-starting blogging right where I left it off in May.

It sounds a bit weird to say that upon our return to Vicenza I had a case of the holiday blues (what with living in Italy – everyone’s dream destination), but we had such a great time both in my husband’s motherland, England, and my own – Bulgaria, that getting back to normality (albeit an Italian one) took a whole day of settling into.

Yes, I was irritable and difficult to be around for a day, but after taking a four-hour riposo on a week day (the luxury of it, I know!), I quickly re-discovered my love for (almost) all things Italian. Plus, I am currently planning some day trips to give me back that feeling of being on holiday while actually living here.

We are, by the way, right in the midst of Ferragosto – or, in other words, yet another hot and stuffy month of August when all Italians cleverly enjoy their holidays in the mountains and on the seaside, while leaving their gorgeous cities and towns unoccupied for the hordes of tourists to explore and sweat in. So, yes, Vicenza feels and looks pretty empty at the moment with life, seemingly, just about filling up its historical streets and squares in the evening hours when the handful of people still in town surface from their airconned abodes for a stroll and a traditional aperitif with family and friends.

This answers the first half of my title – I am back to Italy and back to my day-to-day life here.

Now, in case you are wondering why I suddenly stopped posting in my blog for a while, the reason is that back in May, I became aware of a large scale theft of the photos from my blog.

First dozens and then hundreds of my photos started popping up on all sorts of websites. It would seem that in spite of my very clear and very stern Copyright Notice on each page of my blog (yes, there is one, scroll down to the end of the page and you will see it!), people and businesses were helping themselves with wild abandon to my photos in order to sell their services and what-not without having the common business courtesy of asking if they can do it and pay me for using what, actually, is my copyright.

To say that I was shell-shocked would be the understatement of the year. I went from a state of ‘I can’t believe it!’ to utter despair. For quite some time I, honestly, lost not only the impetus to write and photograph, but started doubting the purpose of blogging at all. Why, I was asking myself, should I be putting all this information, photos and personal thoughts on the internet (albeit with a clear Copyright Notice), only to have them stolen by people who couldn’t give two hoots about me as a person and as a creator?

I just couldn’t take it in.

It was a long and dark period for me. I felt really used and really, really sad.

And then, I got mad about it and did something about it. It is not the time yet to go into too many details, but it suffices to say that I now have legal representation and if you are using my photos on your site without my permission, rather sooner than later you will be contacted with regards to it.

So, yes, after a long holiday and after finding someone to look after my copyright interests, I am now ready to go back to blogging.

It is an activity I enjoy. There is nothing like the rush I get when I sit in front of an empty page and fill it up with words and thoughts, which sometimes come tumbling out of my mind so quickly that my fingers can’t quite keep up on my laptop’s keyboard.

I have some new ideas for the blog. I am hoping to be able to update it much more regularly and share with you many more spontaneous observations and useful information about living in Italy and travelling in Europe. Let’s see how it goes.

In the meantime, I am hoping that you are having a great summer and that you will stick with me on this blogging and photographing journey that I have been following for the past almost three years.

Ah, yes! The photo is of the Adriatic coast of Italy seen from above. This is the first piece of the beautiful Italian land we glimpsed from the plane on our return from Bulgaria this summer.

 

If you liked what you read, please, leave me a comment or use the buttons below to share it on social media.

For more stories like this you can follow me on Facebook and subscribe to my weekly strictly no-spam newsletter. Thank you!

 

Pin Me - Getting Back to Italy and Blogging - www.rossiwrites.com

Carolyn Petrie

Saturday 19th of August 2017

Hi, I follow your blog and I think it's terrible that someone/people stole your photos or used them without permission/reference. Can I ask though - who is your blog through - which platform? Having earlier in the year started my own blog (to be honest 2-3 entries as I've still not figured out the technical side) which was really for me getting words and my photos down. I'm using Wordpress but I wondered what your host does to prevent copyright infringement. Good luck and lucky you being back in Italy. Carolyn

admin

Tuesday 22nd of August 2017

Thank you for your comment and for your kind words! In reply to your queries: My blog is a self-hosted Wordpress blog. Unfortunately, it is not my host's task to keep an eye on my photos and who copies them. In principle, people and companies should be aware that they can not simply copy something off the internet and use it for their purposes without asking for permission and pay for its usage first. But there are lots of people and companies who treat the image search engines as a free-for-all image database. This is terrible and has a real adverse effect on the livelihood of professional photographers. I only take photos for my blog and still hundreds of my photos were stolen. People really have no shame.

Susanna Clymo

Saturday 19th of August 2017

Glad you are back. Still looking forward to your "Venice for children"! We will be there with three aged 6 - 12 in October. As an illustrator (under a former name), I have had many copyright issues, and it is always very annoying to deal with.

admin

Tuesday 22nd of August 2017

Thank you for your comment and for your kind words. I am sorry to hear you have also been on the receiving end of copyright theft. It really is a very stressful thing to have to deal with. With regards to the Venice guide for children, I have not forgotten it, just I was never able to get to it. Hopefully, I will work on it soon. In the meantime, here are some suggestions for you: 1. I recently got a great sticker book dedicated specifically to the region of Veneto from an Italian bookshop. There is a sticker book in the series especially for Venice, too. I found this link online for you to see what I mean: http://www.burian.it/rapidcart/rapidcart.php?product/page/529/Veneto+Sticker+Book+con+adesivi I haven't used this shop before, just the page shows the sticker books I am talking about. I think they are great as we use them at home to teach our little daughter about events specifically related to the part of Italy we live in. I think using the Venice sticker book can be very helpful for children about to visit Venice, as it would give them an idea about the canals, the gondolas, the buildings they are going to see and will also help them imagine a city which is very different to the usual cities we are all used to. 2. This page has a lot of information for things parents can do with their children in the local museums, churches, etc.: https://www.familygo.eu/vacanze-con-bambini/viaggi/venezia/venezia_bambini_itinerari/ - it is in Italian, but Google Translate can be very useful to help you get the gist of it all. 3. I have used this site many times to find events and information and it is always very useful: http://www.veneziadeibambini.it/ - again it is in Italian, but it has several ideas and tips. I hope this helps for now.

Best wishes,

Rossi

Sharing is Caring

Help spread the word. You're awesome for doing it!