thisweekinitaly.com

First some thoughts on my recent weekend trip to Switzerland

h3. About Switzerland

It is about 1/3 the size of Pennsylvania. It is fiercely independent. It
joined the United Nations only two years ago. It is not a member of the
European Union, but through bilateral treaties with the Union, it has many
of the benefits of membership. You can pay your restaurant bill in Euros in
Switzerland, but your change will be in Swiss Francs.The other countries in
Europe seem to like to have a neutral country like Switzerland available as
a place to hold negotiations with enemies or to hide that money in Swiss
bank accounts.

h3. Housing in Switzerland

My friends have a lovely home they built in 1979. Home prices, by American
standards, are quite stable in Switzerland. My friends home has appreciated
only 50% over the last 25 years. In the basement of their home is a room
with a door (like a bank vault door) that is one foot thick. I asked what
this was for. In the 1970s it was a requirement that all homes built in
Switzerland have a built-in bomb shelter. This is interesting because, as a
perpetually neutral nation, Switzerland was not a prime candidate for an
atomic attack.

h3. The Odd British Flag

While in a small town along Lake Leman, I saw a tattered British flag on a
pole near the shore. My Swiss friend had no idea why it was there. I looked
more closely. Nearby there was a small memorial with a metal model on top
(the size of a child’s toy) of a British WWII Lancaster bomber. On the
memorial was a plaque with the names of crew members who had perished when
the plane crashed in 1943 into a nearby mountain. The memorial was placed
there by the Swiss branch of the Royal Air Force Association. Although
Switzerland was neutral in WWII, it probably had no way to stop over flights
by aircraft of the combating nations. The British bombed at night so if an
airplane ran into a problem, it was more likely to crash into a mountain
than a plane that bombed during the day.

h3. A Little Convenience

In Switzerland I purchased post cards at a card shop in the Bern Cathedral
and at the Paul Klee Museum in Bern. At both places they sold stamps to put
on the cards. In Italy you don’t find stamps for sale at such places-just
cards.

h3. Miss Italy Contest

It ended this week. In the Miss America contest there are 50 contestants.
In Miss Italy there are 150. In the USA the final night of the competition
is televised. In Italy it is on TV for three nights. Last year the final
two contestants were both blond This year only one of top 20 was blond. I
was able to select the ultimate winner from the top 20. You soon learn that
shorter women are not going to win. The ages are 17-22; it is unlikely that
a 17 year old will be selected. Because of Italy’s tradition of early
engagements (engagement=serious boyfriend, not intention to marry soon) 56%
of the contestants were already engaged. The winner was a law student. Now
maybe if my first office partner when I started to practice law in 1965 had
looked like this lady, I would have persevered in my legal career rather
than leaving it in less than two years.

h3. Changing Phone Service Providers for My Cell Phone

I finally had to give up on making a change. As I’ve outlined earlier, I
ran into a nest of bureaucratic rules of the phone companies. At some point,
you just give up trying to penetrate this mess (even if it might ultimately
be possible). A true Italian would have quit trying even before I did. In
Italy you have to understand when something is simply not worth the trouble
it takes.

h3. Did I Underestimate the Neapolitans?

I suggested that the new law that allows police to seize motor scooters with
helmet less drivers would not be enforced in Naples where most don’t wear
helmets. The newspaper reports that over 900 motor scooters have been
seized in Naples. Before I concede that I was wrong, I want to see what the
situation is in Naples one year from now. Of course, if in Naples one year
from now even 60% or 70% of drivers wear a helmet, it could be considered a
success.

h3. Politics as a Bit of Comic Opera

I wrote last week about head of Bank of Italy who won’t resign even though
he has been shown to have acted improperly. His name is Fazio. Last year
the name of the Finance Minister was Tremonti. Tremonti was forced out of
his post by some internal politics within the governing coalition. Fazio
(even though he is not part of the political government) was one of those
who wanted Tremoti sacked. This week Tremonti was brought back as Finance
Minister. Not only that, but Tremonti was sent to Washington to represent
Italy at meetings of International Monetary Fund instead of Fazio (who
ordinarily would do this task) because Fazio is being investigated by some
judges in Italy. In fact, Fazio was already in Washington for the IMF
meetings; he and Tremonti ended up in same hotel. Clearly Berlusconi is
finally putting strong pressure on Fazio to resign. Fazio got in trouble
when some of his (and his wife’s) intercepted telephone conversations were
published There was a big hubbub about whether the interception and/or the
publication of these conversations was proper. Could Temonti’s allies have
been behind their publication?

Meanwhile the Italian economy continues to be in very bad shape. National
leader Berlusconi faces a revolt within his governing coalition from members
who think he is not the best candidate of the coalition for national leader
in the elections next year.

One Day Early This Week because I am off for a weekend in Switzerland

h3. Use of Political Party Symbols

In the USA we have the Donkey and the Elephant for the two major parties.
In Italy every party also has a symbol, usually not an animal. Whereas in
the USA, you sometimes see the party symbol on political advertisements, it
is on every advertisement in Italy. Of course with so many parties, perhaps
the symbols are more important here as a way to keep track of candidates.

h3. Head of Bank of Italy

The major financial newspapers in the USA and Great Britain (and perhaps
elsewhere too) have called for his resignation as a way to restore
confidence in the Italian financial system. As I wrote earlier, he has a
lifetime appointment. He is not resigning yet. The law is being changed so
that his successor will have only a 5 year appointment. In any other
country, the government would ‘lean on’ him to make him resign. It is
exactly such little things in Italy, that make the country seem more
backward and feudal than other major European countries. Italy is a country
that is never taken completely seriously by the other European powers.

h3. Divorce in Italy and the USA

In many American jurisdictions after a divorce the father (usually the
father) has support obligations until the children are 18 and an obligation
to provide money, if necessary, for his ex wife to get the training to get a
decent job. It, is understood that the woman is ultimately responsible to
support herself. In Italy the obligation to support children goes to at
least age 26 and, if the wife chooses not to work, the obligation to support
her is continuous. This system may look a lot better to women, but it is
also part of a ‘paternalistic’ outlook in Italy that treats woman with less
equality than in the USA.

h3. Talking about Men and Woman

My friends Rhett and Kay Butler gave me a book, ‘Italy, A Capricious Tour,
Out of Hand’ by Barbara Hodgson. In it the author discusses the roles men
could play toward woman in the 19th Century other than husband. At the top
of the hierarchy was the ‘cortigiano’ (courtier), a man of elegance, charm,
and learning who amused the leading ladies of society. The ‘cavaliere
servente’ (servant knight) was a guy who did whatever little tasks the
woman required with the hope of serving her. For example, he might hold her
gloves and attend her at the theatre. One description was a ‘lover without
love, a soldier without pay.’ The ‘cicisbeo’ (literally the whisperer) was
the married woman’s lover, recognized by all, even the husband. Former
cavalieri servanti and cicisbei might become ’spiantati (penniless,
ruined) who hoped for what little crumbs of affection they could find.

In Italy I have a number of lady friends (some single, some separated, some
married and living with their husbands) whom I accompany from time to time.
I’d like to think of myself as a cortigiano. Others might say at best I am
a cavaliere servente. Who knows; they may even call me a spiantato. One
thing for sure; I haven’t figured out how to be a cicisbeo in Italy.

h3. Commenting on My Newsletter

People send me comments via e mail from time to time. There is a feature on
my webs site (www.bob.it.tt) where you can post a comment that then is
there for all readers of the web site to see.

h3. A Little Convenience

I have some Italian shirts on which the bottom button hole is sewed
perpendicular to the direction of the other button holes. I guess this is
so when you put the shirt on and grab the bottom button with one hand, you
can very easily identify the bottom button hole into which this button goes.

h3. Lucky Numbers for the Lottery

If you wanted to have a one question IQ test that separated the really
stupid from the rest of society, this question would suffice ‘If you play
the lottery, do you think it would be useful to increase your chances of
winning to buy a book of so-called lucky lottery numbers’? In Italy you can
buy such a book with a special twist. The book contains long lists of
words, ideas, and places with a number associated with each one. When you
wake up in the morning, you recall your dreams. You find the numbers that
correspond to what you dreamed about. This tells you what number of play on
the lottery. If you are one who cannot remember your dreams, I guess you
are condemned to be a loser.

h3. Italians and Katrina

In Italy dealing with a natural disaster like Katrina is totally the
responsibility of the national government. So Italians tend to think that
the Bush administration must be responsible for all the problems of the
response to Katrina. Italy too has regional and local governments, but the
division of responsibilities between the national and lower governments is
different. National leader Berlusconi wants Italy to adopt a system in
which more power goes to regional and local governments. At the founding of
the United States, the division of power between the national government and
the states was not established with an eye to having the most effective and
efficient government; it was adopted to limit the possibility of a
tyrannical national government. It may well be that the Italian system of
dealing with natural disasters is (at least on paper) more rational and
efficient than the American one. (Although as I noted last week, a flood in
Naples would have had the same results as the one in New Orleans.)

h3. English in France and Italy

Although I am sure they hate it, the French have to use English as well as French on many signs, specially at the airport. I noticed an advertisement for Master Card at the Paris airport that was both in English and French. I saw the same sign at Rome airport. In Italy it was only in English. The Italians are less uptight about the invasion of English.

h3. Explaining the New Orleans Flood to Italians

Although Italians know there is poverty in the USA, still I am sure the images on New Orleans were shocking. I would explain it to them in this way. Assume a tidal wave hit the Bay of Naples and the city was inundated. The mayor ordered an evacuation, but many people stayed. Would there be looting in Naples? — yes. Would there be dead bodies floating in the water? — yes. Would the response to the tragedy be disorganized? — yes. New Orleans is an American Naples, a city with beautiful sites that is one of long
standing corruption, crime, and poverty. It may be hard for non Americans to realize we have a city as dysfunctional as Naples, but we do. And Louisiana as a state is similar to badly governed areas of the South of Italy.

h3. Dishonest Politicians

Italians tell me that they are a good people with bad government. Politicians are dishonest and corrupt. I was in Chicago last week. Three city official have gone to jail recently for corruption. The city’s hiring practices are now under control of the federal court because the city has for years systematically violated a federal court order prohibiting patronage hiring of city employees. In short the politicians of Chicago
are no angels. But the city looks great. It is clean. It is beautiful. Public housing (always terrible) and derelict buildings are being razed in slum areas. In the USA (or at least in Chicago) while doing well for
themselves the politicians also do good things for the city. Now I don’t know whether in Italy a mayor of a large city has the power to do the things that Mayor Daley has done in Chicago–governmental power may be distributed differently in Italy. But either for lack of power or lack of desire, big
city mayors in Italy don’t revive their city as Mayor Daley has in Chicago.

h3. Retrieving Your Luggage at the Airport

At O’Hare airport in Chicago there is a man at the luggage carrousel, who watches the bags as they come off the belt onto the carrousel, to be sure that they don’t pile up. The bags come in large groups off of the belt. At the Rome airport, the bags come one at a time off the belt, about one bag every 5-10 seconds. It is as if the luggage handler carries each individual suitcase from the baggage truck to the belt and carefully deposits it there. Needless to say, it takes a while longer to retrieve your bag in Rome.

From Rome airport to Pistoia

After I got my bag (finally) off the luggage carrousel, I walked through what I thought was the door to customs area. Not so. I was in main part of airport without going through customs. Nobody stopped me. Then at train station in airport, I decided to take the local train to main train station in Rome rather than the faster direct train that costs over twice as much. I was in no hurry. The local train sign says “stops in all stations.” No, quite true–it bypasses the main terminal. When I figured this out, I had to backtrack two train stations to Tibertina station and take Metro to main terminal. There I went to automatic ticket machine and selected a train to Pistoia that was a good balance in terms of cost and time. Although the
automatic machine is supposed to give you trains starting at main terminal, the ticket I bought was for train starting at Tibertina station. So I had to take Metro back there. The automatic ticket machines usually give you the choice of a first class or second class ticket if the train has both classes. This train listed only one choice. When I got on train, I discovered that I had purchased a first class ticket. Of course, all this is not particularly important–the train was 70 minutes late anyway getting to Pistoia.

h3. Modernity Comes to Italy

My Italian friends have been amazed when I made Microwave popcorn for them, but now I see such popcorn is offered at one of the local cafes I frequent. I’ll have to find a new way to impress my friends.

My Article in The Florentine ( number 15, Sept. — English Newspaper in Florence

A Day in Pistoia By Robert Nordvall
“You live in Pistoia, how quaint” was the response of a friend from Florence when I told him about my place
of residence. His reply pretty well sums up the attitude of many Florentines about the city 20 miles to the
northwest. Guide books to Italy, on the other hand, usually recommend Pistoia as well worth a one-day visit.

It surely merits the 45 minute train ride from Florence. First, a little folklore. The claim that the word “pistol” (pistola in Italian) is derived from Pistoia is not supported by scholars. Pistoia did give its name to a type of twosided hunting knife called a pistolese in Italian. Connecting Pistoia with guns and knives has, however, a rationale. In late Medieval and Renaissance times the feudin, fussin and fightin in Pistoia were particularly violent and intense, even by Tuscan standards. Dante and Machiavelli commented negatively about Pistoia in this regard. Michelangelo called the Pistoiese “enemies of heaven.”

Put the stories of its dark past aside. Pistoia today is a safe, beautiful, city with attractions that cause it to describe itself as a “City of Art.” Even more than Florence, Pistoia is a “walkable” city. From the train station you head directly north, starting on Via XX Settembre for three blocks to Via Cavour (the recently reopened Café Globo is on your left) and turn right for one long block (past the striped church of San Giovanni Fuorcivitas on the right that we will visit later) to the Post Offi ce (Via Roma) where you turn left.
Just past the Post Office is the Cassa di Risparmio . Built to mimic a Florentine Palazzo, it was in fact
completed in 1905. The decorations inside treat Renaissance artistic themes in the late 19th century L L iberty style. The large lobby often hosts art exhibits, frequently with a free catalogue provided.

Continuing down Via Roma, soon you enter the jewel of Pistoia, The Piazza del Duomo — clearly one
of the most beautiful town centres in Tuscany. Grab a town map (and some pamphlets for visitors) at the
Tourist Centre just across the street from the octagonal Baptistery. While at the Centre, check to see when the city’s bell tower is open for tours; on an exceptionally clear day you can see the outline of the Duomo in
Florence from its heights.
The facade of the Cathedral is topped by two statues, St. Zeno and St. Jacopo (the patron of pilgrims),
the city’s two patron saints. Pistoia is along the Via Francegena, the pilgrimage route going from France
either to Rome or to Santiago di Compostella in Spain. Tourist revenue was important in Tuscany even
500 years ago. Inside the Duomo there is one of the town’s prime artistic treasures — a large silver altar
of St. Jacopo completed in 1456 after almost two centuries of construction . Unfortunately, you have to find
the sexton to gain admission to its location if you want to examine it closely.

On the town hall on the eastern side of the square, you see the six Medici balls, a reminder of Pistoia??s
long tenure in the Florentine sphere of influence. Inside is the Civic Museum. The museums of Pistoia don’t come close to rivaling the Uffizi or Pitti Palace, but the costs are modest and there are no lines. Within the Civic Museum there are certainly works that make a visit worthwhile. As you face the town hall there are
little streets to its right and left; take either one for a short block to Via Filippo Pacini and after a left turn
you will almost immediately see the famous facade of the Ospedale del Ceppo with the seven ceramic panels representing the various virtues of mercy (feed the hungry, clothe the naked, etc). Six of these are works of the Della Robbia workshop. The seventh, which is faded, is actually a newer one done by followers of Della Robbia who clearly had not conquered the techniques of the master. In addition to the famous panels, you will also see the Medici shield again.
Heading west from the old Hospital on Via Delle Pappe, in a few blocks you come to Via S. Andrea where a right turn is called for. The church of S. Andrea on the left contains a second famous artistic masterpiece
of Pistoia — the pulpit by Giovanni Pisano. Be sure to have 50 centesimo with you to pay for the lights to illuminate it. The pulpit is reminiscent of a similar Pisano work at the Duomo in Pisa. Backtrack from the church to Via Abbi Pazienza and turn right. Soon you come to Church of Saints Prospero and Filippo on your right. Take a peek in this church and then go to the left of its main entrance where (along Via Bozzi) is the door to the Library Fabroniana that is open ordinarily on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
The main library room is an exquisite wood-paneled hall built in the 18th century to house the personal
collection of Cardinal Carlo Agostino Fabroni. From this church go directly south on Via Curtatone e Montanara to the first cross street and turn right onto Via Della Madonna. In half a block, you arrive at the Basilica of S. Maria dell?? Umilt??. It is the dome (a work of Giorgio Vasari) of this church that you see as you approach Pistoia ?? not the Duomo. In fact, the dome of this church is the third largest in Italy after St. Peter??s and the one in Florence. The outside is unfinished, but the inside in quite attractive, including the central location of the portrait of Mary that miraculously wept in 1490 and led to the construction of this church as an appropriate location for the religious icon. Retracing your steps to Via Curtatone e Montanara, this time turn right and go half a block to Via Cavour where you turn left. On your right you come to the church of S. Giovanni Fuorcivitas. Its name indicates that it was outside the first set of walls of the city which encompassed a small area indeed. It’s good to have a flashlight with you in this church; a few of the artworks are in dark corners. Here is the third of Pistoia’s premier works of art, a Visitation
in white terra cotta attributed to Luca Della Robbia. Exiting the church, turn left and then immediately left again down Via Carducci. Many streets in Pistoia’s centre are named for the occupations that formerly were located there, such as Via degli Orafi (goldsmiths) or Via dei Fabbri (blacksmiths).
Fortunately this medieval system was not followed for Via Carducci, which would have been Via delle Puttane (Street of Whores)! After one block on Via Carducci, turn left at Via Corso S. Fedi. You are now at the Museum Marino Marini. Seen more than enough Sacred Conversation or Nativity paintings in Italy? Here is a museum of the modern works of Pistoia’s most famous 20th century artist. Its emphasis on his graphic art complements his sculptures found in the Marino Marini museum in Florence.
Don’t miss the frescoes on the walls of the former Tau convent next door to the museum. Our little tour has covered the high points of central Pistoia. The literature you picked up at the Tourist Office describes many other places of interest. Pistoia, unlike Florence, is not home to exclusive shops featuring the merchandise of the most famous Italian and European designers, but there are stores featuring clothes and other items at various levels of luxury and price. On Wednesday and Saturday mornings there is a large travelling market in the central Piazza and adjacent streets. Everyday, there is a fruit and vegetable market in the Piazza Della Sala close to the Duomo Square. Restaurants are numerous at prices
more modest than those in Florence. Some personal recommendations include:

* Trattoria Dell?? Abbondanza, Via dell?? Abbondanza
* La Bottegaia,Via del Lastrone 17
* Boccon di Vino, Corso Gramsci 83
* and Lo Storno, Via del Lastrone 6/8.

The last is the most informal of these. Across from the Basilica of S. Maria dell?? Umilt?? is the Bang, fusion Bar ?? an American bar with both American and Italian food, as well as American pastries. On the same street (38) is Pizzeria Dell?? Arca (evenings only), where you find perhaps the best American pizza
maker in Italy. When I first saw Pistoia, my immediate love affair with the city led me to move there within a year.
Others will be less bowled over, but few who visit fail to be impressed by the beauty and attractions of this
largely unknown jewel so close to Florence.

h3. Attending an Orchestra Concert in the Town Square

I recently went to an orchestra concert of a large youth orchestra from Wales held in the central piazza. Starting time was set for 9 pm. As I arrived at 8:55 the buses transporting the orchestra were just arriving. I wondered when the concert would start. In Italy a concert starts about 30 minutes late regardless of when the performers arrive. The concert began at 9:17 — a miracle by Italian standards.

h3. Trying to Help a Friend

I have a friend who was a lawyer in Palestine but now ekes out a living in Italy. He is an unusually kind and helpful person. He seems to have an endless list of friends and acquaintances in Pisotia, both Italians and other immigrants. He has completed a course in intercultural mediation and in fact did similar work before coming to Italy. To me the ideal job for him would be as an “ambassador” from the city to the ever expanding foreign population. This makes political sense because soon resident aliens in
Italy will receive the right to vote in at least local elections. I got an appointment with a high member of the mayor’s staff to make the pitch for my friend. People tell me, however, that even if such a post of ambassador were established, it would probably be given to an Italian. Here every job established is seen as an opportunity to help your family and friends.

h3. Chicago vs. Italy

I am writing this week from Chicago where I am visiting to attend the 75th birthday party of my oldest sister. I have an American friend in Pistoia who is married to an Italian man. They lived in Chicago for four years. She said her husband was not fond of Chicago because there were too many signs telling you what you could not do and too much of a constant police presence. At first this made no sense to me since there are just as many signs in Italy and police are every bit as present in Italy as in the USA. But then I realized that her husband did not like regulations of personal behavior in public spaces and that in Italy you don’t have to obey the signs in the street, and the police do not enforce the regulations on these signs and many other laws too.

h3. Getting from Pistoia to Chicago

Italy is a constant parade of minor inconveniences. You have to make up your mind not to bothered by them. Here is a list of the inconveniences I faced as I left Italy:

* no open bathrooms at Pisa train station

* elevators from main level to track level at train station did not work, had to carry luggage up and down stairs

* the station announcer and the placard at the station both said that first-class cars were at the end of my train. Well one was, but the other, mine, was in the middle of the train. So I had to walk to end of long train and then back again to the middle.

* there was no air conditioning in the first class car

* when I got to Rome the cash machine on the way to my train was not working

* on train to the Rome airport there was no toilet paper in the two bathrooms I visited.

* the cash machine at airport did not work

* at the Rome airport I got locked into a bathroom stall because the lock was defective.

* at the Rome airport the gate number for my flight was changed without any announcement.

* the flight in Rome was 10 minutes later loading. I asked the clerk at check-in station if I would have a problem making my 45 minute connection in Paris. He said I would have to change terminals in Paris, but the terminal for my flight to Chicago was just across the street, an easy walk. In fact in Paris people transferring to my plane were met at the gate by an Air France representative who took us on a BRISK 25 minute walk to the next plane which we boarded at the very last minute. The wrong information I got in Rome was typical for Italy–if you don’t know the right answer, tell the person something that will make him feel good.

Italy is really a sort of a “pseudo modern” country. It looks modern on the
surface, but often does not function in a modern way.

h3. Silvio Berlusconi and Divorce

I mentioned that Silvio is divorced and married to his second wife. His official campaign brochure in the last election referred to the fact that he has a second wife but in a convoluted way that did not use the word “divorce.”

h3. Eating Well in the USA

I did have some fresh ears of corn on the cob that you cannot find in Italy. As I mentioned before this is the one thing I can surely claim is better to eat in the USA than in Italy.

h3. Meeting a Moroccan on Plane to Chicago.

My seatmate was a Moroccan who came to the USA five years ago. Each year 6,000 Moroccans receive a Visa to emigrate to the USA. They are selected by a lottery that anyone (and many do) can enter. He now owns a clothing store in a mall in Rockford, Illinois and is married to a woman who is lawyer in Rockford. Now I am sure that in his five years in the USA he has prospered much more than the typical immigrant. I am also sure that some immigrants to Italy also prosper after a few years in the country. But without statistics to back me up, I still feel that an immigrant’s chances to adjust and prosper are better in the USA than Italy.

h3. Service in Italy and the USA

As I have noted before, Italy does not have a strong tradition of customer service. In the United States the service is better, but the help is often incompetent. I wanted to find a telephone that amplifies the outgoing voice of the person making the call. Phone that amplify the incoming voice as it reaches your ear are common. So when I called some vendors to see if they
had what I wanted, I was especially careful to explain exactly what I was looking for. One store said “yes,” but when I got there, the clerk had misunderstood my phone request, and showed me phones with a volume control in the earpiece. Before entering the store, I predicted that this might turn out to be the case.