Since then, Ao dai made of Italian material has become the dress that is usually worn by the ambassador.
Ambassador Cecilia Piccioni said that her first Ao dai was a present to her on the Italian National Day in 2015, the first year of her tenure in Vietnam as an ambassador.
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Ambassador Cecilia Piccioni has filled her wardrobe with a number of Ao dai |
She found that she looks wonderful in the dress, and she thought that Ao dai makes tiny women like her and Vietnamese women in general more beautiful. “Truthfully, I found myself beautiful in Ao dai”, she said.
The Ambassador said that Ao dai is elegant, charming, lovely and comfortable. Besides its femininity, Ao dai also bears good traditional values of Vietnam. Thus, she often makes a decision of wearing Ao dai for meetings with representatives from Southeast Asian countries, or for cultural events hosted by Vietnam.
The Ambassador also emphasized the importance of popularizing Italian culture and “made in Italy” products.
In 2016, at the Ao dai Festival held in the Temple of Literature in Hanoi, Ambassador Cecilia Piccioni in red Ao dai stood out from the participants.
Deeply falling in love with Ao dai of Vietnam, the Italian diplomat has filled her wardrobe with a number of Ao dai for nearly three years now. She revealed that her collection of Ao dai reaches two-digits and she will continue to wear them even when her tenure in Vietnam ends.
For Cecilia Piccioni, “wearing Ao dai is an act that is more significant than thousand words on the flourishing bilateral ties between Italy and Vietnam.”
The Italian Ambassador held that though far in geography, Hanoi and Rome have many similarities. Both are home to various world heritages, and old houses with small windows in old quarters.
“I love Hanoi since my first setting foot in it and I feel like home here. Traffic in Hanoi is as heavy as that in Rome or Naples. Getting used to drive cars in Italy helps me a lot when traveling in Hanoi”, the Ambassador said.
During her ongoing term, she has enjoyed two Tet (Lunar New Year Festival) in Vietnam. “I also find interesting similarities between Vietnam and Italy in celebrating festivals,” the Ambassador said.
She gave an example that Vietnam has the Lunar New Year festival while Italy has Il Capuano (New Year’s Eve in Italy). She compared the wrapping of Chung cake of Vietnam to the preparation of "tortellini en brodo"-a basic dish during Italian festivals.
She also added that during traditional festivals, members of Vietnamese and Italian families love clustering altogether.
The aforementioned examples prove the similarities between Vietnam and Italy that any Italian living in Vietnam could find out, she stressed.
Like two years ago, Italian Ambassador to Vietnam Cecilia Piccioni will welcome the Lunar New Year Festival of Vietnam in the capital city of Hanoi this year.
She said that during Tet, when Hanoi natives are busy with visiting their relatives, enjoy delicious dishes, she will cycle around Hanoi to enjoy the capital city’s rare quiet atmosphere. She also plans to explore the old architecture of Cu Da, a trade village in the North of Vietnam.
“Of course, tasting Hanoi’s cuisine is indispensable during Tet”, the Ambassador emphasized.
She also revealed that this year, Vietnam and Italy celebrate the 45th anniversary of their diplomatic ties. Therefore, Italian Embassy in Vietnam will organize a variety of activities, including cultural programs with the aim of popularizing the two countries’ culture.
Translated by Mai Huong