My Travels with Tintin – Italy

I have one Tintin album in Italian, “Il Drago Blu” (The Blue Lotus), which was published in 1986 by Gandus. I don’t think there is a “perfect” album for Italy, so when in doubt, go with The Blue Lotus, right?

To be fair though, it was more a matter of opportunity than choice per se. Tintin publishing in Italy is far from straightforward, so I more or less had to take what I could get. The first Italian-language Tintin adventure “Obiettivo Luna” (Destination Moon) appeared across 25 issues of the Italian version of Journal de Tintin (Tintin Magazine), published by Antonio Vallardi, between 1955 and 1956.

However, the first actual album to be published was “Lo Scettro D’Ottokar” (King Ottokar’s Sceptre) in 1961 by Cino Del Duca. Gandus then published eight softcover albums (also including “Lo Scettro D’Ottokar”) from 1965 to 1966. This was followed by “I Gioielli Della Castafiore” (The Castafiore Emerald) appearing as a supplement to the magazine Linus Rosa in 1968.

Gandus then produced 12 hardcover albums from 1977 to 1979 – with a single album – the one I own – “Il Drago Blu” (The Blue Lotus) published in1986. However, the series wasn’t published (mostly) in its entirety until Comic Art published 23 albums (minus Alph Art) between 1987 to 1991, followed by Lizard’s 22 albums from 1999 to 2002 (missing both Alph Art and Tintin in the Land of the Soviets).

In 2011 Rizzoli Lizard also published the series in the more modern “3-in-1” eight album format – which was actually the first album (volume 8) I found on a shelf and purchased at a Feltrinelli bookstore in Rome. Although the weekly newspaper, La Gazzetta dello Sport did release all 24 volumes in a format similar to that of the Tintin Archives (Editions Atlas) in 2017, when I visited Rome in June 2018, the 3-in-1 editions were the only ones I could find easily.

However I wasn’t quite satisfied with my original purchase. Call me a purist, but each of the Tintin albums (even the two-part adventures) deserves to stand on it’s own. I feel even more strongly about that in terms of my foreign language collection. It’s hard to say “this album is my souvenir of my trip” when you’ve got 3 of them bound together and sporting a rather bland, non-descript cover. So, while still on vacation in Rome, I was able to order a copy of the Gandus “Il Drago Blu” (The Blue Lotus) off eBay and it was waiting on my doorstep in Seoul when we returned home – so it still counts!

What makes this even more special though is that, in typical Tintin adventure fashion though, while flipping through the book my young son discovered some actual treasure! Carefully pressed between several of the pages was a variety of WWII-era currency notes!

The haul included the following banknotes:

• 10 Kroner (Denmark)
• 5 Francs (France)
• 1 Peseta (Spanish)
• 100 Peseta (Spanish)
• 1 Japanese Government Rupee (Burma)
• 1 Farmers Bank of China Yuan (China)
• 25-cent Government of Ceylon (Sri Lanka)
• 5 Regno D’Italia Lire (Fascist Italy)
• 5 Allied Military Currency Lire (Occupied Italy)

It was a huge surprise – not to mention a fascinating group of historical artifacts! Given Tintin’s globe-trotting fame, it makes me think that whoever put those notes there did so on purpose. They’re not just European notes, they’re from all over the world! What better place to keep your collection bank notes from far away and exotic places than your favourite Tintin album, right? I bought the album from a faceless online used bookseller, not an individual, so I didn’t think there was any point in trying to trace it back to the original owner. But I hope whoever put them there would be happy to know that I treasure them as much or more than they did.

In 2025 a new publication of Tintin in Italian appeared from Alessandro Editore. They’re pristine and beautiful, but sometimes an album with a little more “seasoning” can’t be beat.

My trip to Italy:

From June 18 to 23, 2018 I visited Rome, Italy with my wife and 9-year-old son. It was the first leg of our first “circumvent the globe” adventure – which started in Seoul, Korea, and also included stops (some just to switch planes) in Athens, Greece, Geneva, Switzerland, London, England, a combination of Toronto / Edmonton / Vancouver in Canada, Tokyo, Japan, and then back home to Seoul, Korea.

When we arrived at the Leonardo da Vinci Rome Fiumicino Airport after a 14-hour flight we were directed out the door to find the shuttle bus. As we walked along the line of a great many very nice coach buses I was thinking “this isn’t too bad”, but as we kept walking, and walking, the buses started getting smaller and smaller. Of course ours was literally the furthest, and smallest bus possible. Seating was tight. I could barely get my legs in between my seat and the one in front! We were also dropped off several blocks further from our hotel than the internet had led me to believe, so our first sight of Rome itself was coloured by us dragging our own luggage “just a couple of streets over” down a few back alleys to our hotel – not the most auspicious of arrivals, but things quickly picked up.

The next day (June 19) we decided to invest in tickets on the “Hop On, Hop Off” bus  – which provided us a double-decker tour of the city and unlimited amounts of rides between the various sites. Given how hot it was, that was a bit of a lifesaver. A couple of times we just rode the route while we rested and re-hydrated.

During the day, we saw plenty of sights, including the Santa Maria Maggiore (also known as the Basilica of Saint Mary Major) one of the four major papal basilicas and one of the Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome. I also remember being very in interested in the Circus Maximus, an ancient Roman chariot-racing stadium and mass entertainment venue. There it is, you just get off the bus and you see it… I could almost imagine over a hundred thousand screaming citizens cheering on their favourite chariot driver over the pounding of the horses’ hooves. However, the main attraction is, of course, the Colosseum. We spent a bit more and opted for the guided tour and I think it was worth it. I’d wondered why the outer columns were pock-marked… answer: ancient thieves stealing the metal fasteners between the stones. As we walked through the various passageways we really got a feel for how complex the Roman Games really were. The basement levels are a warren of twisting rooms and walkways, with lifts to bring the gladiators and animals (or unlucky slaves) up to the arena proper. The sheer size of it was almost beyond belief as well. Seating for thousands, with not a bad view in the house. It was a place I thought I knew, given how famous it is, but really left feeling we’d only scratched the surface.

Afterwards we went and checked out the Spanish Steps and climbed up the slope between Piazza di Spagna at the bottom and Piazza Trinità dei Monti and its church, at the top. It was quite a hike, but it gave us a very nice view of the surrounding area. Of course all that walking and hiking made us work up an appetite, and you can’t talk about Rome without mentioning the food! My son took an instant liking to pizza margarita, even though he’s generally not a fan of pizza. We also ate our fair share of gelato (it was a hot day!). But the best was the bistro we found near our hotel – you could basically just load up your plate with choices from a hundred different dishes… all made with the freshest vegetables and a wide assortment of cheese and cuts of meat. It was pure heaven.

The following day (June 20) was taken up for the most part by our tour of the Vatican. First of all, it was like visiting a country within a country… that’s because it is! We’d walked up the plaza towards the Vatican (and visited all the shops along the way) the day before, but this time we were allowed to go inside. After some processing and paperwork (handled by our tour guide thankfully) we were on the inside… casually walking past masterpieces by Michael Angelo as we toured the grounds. Everything about it was amazing, but two things in particular stood out to me… the first was the Sistine Chapel. Everyone likely knows that it is the site of the papal conclave, the process by which a new pope is selected. Being herded in like cattle a couple of hundred at a time made it a bit difficult to imagine in under more serene circumstances, but then all you had to do was look up. The Michelangelo frescoes are the main draw, and once you see the Sistine Chapel ceiling and The Last Judgment, well, it’s hard not to be draw in… at least until the usher shushes all the people who can’t seem to follow the simple instructions to a) be quiet, and b) not take pictures.

Even more impressive was St. Peter’s Basilica. It’s HUGE. As you walk in you feel like you’re entering a European church just like any other… and then it keeps on going. You see the altar and think, there it is… but wait, there’s another. In fact, it features several altars, and then you see the Papal Altar, located directly beneath Michelangelo’s dome and above St. Peter’s tomb. Catholic or not, it’s an impressive and majestic site.

That evening my son and I left mommy back at the hotel to rest and went on a model-hunting excursion. According to Google Maps, the RoCri Modellismo shop was just a simple bus ride away. Of course, we didn’t realize that the bus we needed had a detour because of local construction, so we ended up waiting and walking a lot more than we’d planned. Still, it was an adventure on the streets of Rome, so who cares? On the one hand it was nice to get away from the central tourist attractions for a bit. I’m not sure we saw the “real Rome” but it put some of the amazing things in a bit more perspective. On the other hand, I loved seeing a model shop in Italy. I’ve been to model shops all over the world, and its neat to see the focus – all the Academy kits you’d ever want in Seoul, the amazing selection of Tamiya and Hasegawa in Japan… and now a store well-stocked with Italieri kits in Rome. I didn’t end up buying anything, but I was severely tempted by a couple of Macchi M.39 and MC.27 racing seaplane resin kits. They were just a bit too pricy.

From June 21 to June 22 we took in all the sites we’d missed the previous days. First up was a trip to the Pantheon. The Pantheon is an ancient 2nd century Roman temple which was originally built to honour all the Roman gods, but was later (since AD 609) converted into a Catholic church called the Basilica of St. Mary and the Martyrs. What it’s really famous for though is the rotunda. It’s an enormous freestanding dome, a marvel of architecture and engineering both. It’s got a hole in the very top that let’s the rain water in, but the slope of its floors and it’s system of drains means it’s never flooded. From the Pantheon we wandered down to Trevi Fountain, completed in 1762, it’s 26.3 metres high and 49.15 metres  wide, and is one of the most famous fountains in the world… with good reason. Apparently you can throw coins in and make a wish, but my wish was to have some coins, so I thought it was a good idea to just skip the middle man there.

Afterwards we walked around the Piazza Venezia – which is more or less the central hub of Rome. It is defined by the massive white marble Vittoriano monument – apparently honouring the first king of a unified Italy, Victor Emmanuel II;  the historic Palazzo Venezia – a large early Renaissance palace with gardens; and Trajan’s Column – a monument that commemorates Roman emperor Trajan’s victory in the Dacian Wars.

One of our final stops in Rome was a very pleasant afternoon spent at the Galleria Borghese and its surrounding gardens. We started by renting a “bike car” (basically a side-by-side 4 seater peddle powered car) and riding around the third-largest park in Rome. It was a beautiful day and with the two of us peddling (and one small passenger) we made good time and were able to explore the fountains and tree-lined pathways, criss-crossing the park several times. So much fun! Then we toured the gallery itself – which is housed in the former Villa Borghese Pinciana, an aristocratic villa built by the architect Flaminio Ponzio in the 17th century.  It’s one of Rome’s more impressive art museums, and the collection features masterpieces by famous artists such as Bernini, Caravaggio, Titian, and Raphael.

All in all, our visit to Rome was one of the most memorable vacations we’ve ever been to. There was something ancient and amazing around almost every corner, the weather was simply lovely (if a bit hot), and the food was to die for. What more could you want? It was difficult to leave… even though we were off on yet  another adventure in Athens, Greece!