One of my favorite among humorist Mark Twain’s many famous quotes is, “Travel is fatal to prejudice.” Basically, he meant that traveling opens our eyes, hearts and minds, connecting us to our fellow human beings, live and in-person. Stereotypes and even hatreds fade away. Ironically, Twain failed to demonstrate this via his own first journey to Italy; he pretty much hated the country, and he put his musings into a book, The Innocents Abroad.
Twain did, however, return to Italy again three more times and mellowed out considerably, particularly via Florence—where, also ironically, his beloved wife Alma died while they lived in a villa there. The beauty of the surroundings surely comforted him during this intense period of sadness.
By my count, I’ve visited Italy at least 17 times over the past 25 years, quite a big feat on a mere teacher’s salary. I could only do so usually via Spring Break trips (mid-April). I did visit Italy twice during the height of summer, which any sane tourist really shouldn’t do. The first time was my very first trip there, I rented out an apartment in Florence for two weeks in August; the other was to attend the famous Umbria Jazz Festival in July. I survived both.
Last year would have been 18 trips but I had to cancel a scheduled sojourn to Calabria. So, I was eager to get my groove back, as it were, to see how la bell’italia is still rolling along. My specific cities this time were familiar ones: Rome and Lucca, both of which I hadn’t visited in over three years.
I spent most of my time in Rome to check off a major bucket item list: to attend the annual Rome Open Tennis Tournament (as a fan, not a pro, alas). It didn’t disappoint. Held on the magnificent grounds of the Foro Italico, the Open was a tennis enthusiasts delight; it was clean, well-run and a lot of fun.
The not-so-surprise ending of the Men’s final was Jannik Sinner’s victory, the first time an Italian player had won the tournament in 50 years. The previous champion, Adriano Panatta, still alive at 75, personally congratulated Sinner after the tournament. So did Italian president Sergio Matarella. Yes, it was that big of a deal. (By contrast, we Italian Americans get to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first Rocky film. “Yo, Adrian!”).
at Foro Italico
Some random stray thoughts, both good and bad, about Rome:
a) The stereotype of lazy Italian workers, prone to espresso breaks, needs to be buried. The center-right government of Giorgia Meloni made good on its promises to spruce up the city in time for last year’s Jubilee, and then some. There are sparkling new piazzas near Vatican City and Augustus’s Mausoleum, as well as a new walkway connecting the Colosseum to the Circus Maximus area. And the Colosseum now has another subway line (C).
All projects were completed on time, with two more scheduled to be finished soon: Augustus’s Mausoleum and an extension of the already-new C line.
At the previous World Cup championship, it wasn’t lost on the world that France’s team was nearly 99% foreign-born, largely African. Have the French come to terms with this issue yet? I do not know. What I do know is that, at least in Italy, “assimilation” is currently a major topic of discussion on most of its popular talk shows. Over a decade ago, Italian talk shows similarly hotly debated gay marriage. What an indictment of our own nation. We have freedom of speech written into our constitution yet our body politic—particularly the media—rarely, if ever, devotes any airtime to national discussions on major social issues. To be continued!
b) Italy’s third straight disqualification from the World Cup (see John Mancini’s recent blog) is a mystery to most of us. It is also a source of real national pain to literally all Italians, so I never brought it up. I only did so to that rare breed of people with a professional thick skin: cab drivers. And all three of them gave me the exact reason as to Italy’s continued failures: “too many foreign players.” When pressed, one driver told me that it was a source of friction, that newer immigrants to Italy weren’t blending in well with native-born players.
c) Italians often tend to adopt our own worst habits, be it rap music, ripped jeans or tattoos. Now it’s vaping. And not just the teens, but middle-aged folk and even the elderly! People openly suck on the mini-vaping sticks, then casually blow the smoke out of the sides of their mouths and into the air—and, frequently, right into other peoples’ faces (i.e. mine). Che schifo!
d) Yep, graffiti, graffiti still everywhere. Art or a public nuisance? When it’s on an historic building like the Pantheon, it should be a mortal offense.
e) The Italian passion for bidets doesn’t apply to their dogs. I never once saw a Roman (or any Italian, for that matter) pick up after their pet’s mess in public. Not once. Which leads me to one of my favorite memories of Italy: In Alberobello to see the famous trulli homes, I saw a group of kindergarten-aged children across the street marching in a single line, with their young female teacher chirping out cheerily to them, “Excrementi! Excrementi!”
As for Lucca, the agenda was simply to ride a bike over its famous medieval walls again (I did) and to check out some things I hadn’t had time to ever see before (such as the Palazzo Pfanner No. “l”). I also took a daytrip to the city of Livorno, where its famous statue I Quattri Mori (The Four Moors) dominates the seaport area. It’s one of the most striking public statues I’ve ever seen—its sense of detail is staggering. Yet, as it “celebrates” a Christian victory over the Muslims, there’s no way such a statue would be tolerated in America. Zealous activists would want to censor it or tear it down. The Italians? No one bats an eyelash at it. They appreciate it for what it is—a piece of public art. There’s even a caffe next to it named “Bar Mori” (!).
Back in Lucca, one final favorite memory: After Sunday Mass at San Martino Cathedral, townspeople in medieval costumes were parading outside, accompanied by stirring marching bands. I felt temporarily transported back in time. It is a frequent feeling in Italy, no matter which city you visit. Andiamo! –BDC
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