Gelato, sunny beaches and gliding along the Riviera on a Vespa scooter — such scenes populate the myth of "la dolce vita," Italy's good life, and a popular Netflix series.Germans have been infatuated with Italy for centuries.

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Back in the late 1700s, literary legend Johann Wolfgang von Goethe wrote an influential travelogue cataloging his two years journeying through Italy that helped cement a long German romance with the country.

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"O, how happy I feel in Rome!," Goethe wrote in a poem inspired by his travels through the southern European country.

In the postwar years, well-travelled German citizens each year holidayed across Italy in their millions from Siciily to the Amalfi Coast, enjoying ocean, sun, regional cuisine — and of course gelato.

The German infatuation with Italy is of course widely shared among the 65 million from across the planet who visit each year, which has been ably captured by the Netflix series "Summertime," which enters its third and final season this month.

Set on a resort on the Romagna Riviera on the Adriatic coast across a sparkling summer, "Summertime" evokes a tourist's Italian fantasy with a modern twist.

The series follows Summer (Coco Rebecca Edogamhe), a young woman who says she hates summer and is forced to support her mother with a job in a hotel in this coastal holiday idyll. But then she meets Ale (Ludovico Tersigni), a handsome young motorcycle racer from Rome. The two find love and come of age on the beach amid their own personal struggles, trials and tribulations.

'Do you know the land where the lemons blossom?'

Also center-stage is an Italian tourist paradise, one of many alluring locations that has maintained the nation's place among the top Germany's travel destinations.

But why Italy?

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe fulfilled a lifelong dream when he took a trip to Italy between 1786 and 1788 and after published a travelogue that likely laid the foundation for the German longing for Italy.

The poet had escaped his official duties with the Weimar court when he traveled south under the moniker of Johann Philipp Möller. He pretended to be a painter as he explored Venice, Rome, Naples and Sicily, and spiced the trip with some erotic adventures.

In the novel, "Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre" (Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship), Goethe famously referenced Italy when he asked: "Do you know the land where the lemons blossom?"

The sentiment was the basis for "Where the Lemons Blossom," a waltz by Johann Strauss II written in 1874 that had originally been titled "Bella Italia" (Beautiful Italy).

Italy pioneered popular souvenirs

Tourists with less of as literary bent learned about bella Italia via picture postcards from the 1870s onward.

The Städel Museum in Frankfurt am Main has an entire exhibition devoted to early photographs of Italy, which from the mid-19th century, and even before the picture postcard, were a popular souvenir.

In the age of the selfie, iconic Italian scenes potrayed 150 years ago are not so different today.

Bursting the bubble

But a deeper reality often colors the fabled view of a southern paradise.

Italy suffered terribly during the pandemic: there were the haunting images of an army convoy in the northern city of Bergamo moving coffins of coronavirus victims because the city's cemeteries were full.

Other Italy fans are put off by the eternal comeback of the political far right, most recently Giorgia Meloni;and the unbridled machismo of the likes of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Then there is the taint of organized crime, recurring political instability and Italy's various economic crises.

But in the wake of the pandemic, the tourists have returned for sun, sand and limoncello — and a mythical vision of romance on the Italian coast os coming alive again on the small screen in the third season of "Summertime."

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 15, 2023 06:20 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).