thisweekinitaly.com

New Track Star 

A few weeks ago in Rome South African Oscar Pistorius ran the 200 meter dash in a major international track meet on his two artificial legs. He did not win, but had a very good time, finishing second in the consolation round of the event. With his artificial legs, he is slower starting the race (He cannot explode out of the blocks.) but he is running very fast by end of race and does not appear as tired as the other competitors.  I think he may choose the 200 meters because in a shorter distance his slow start would be a greater disadvantage whereas in a longer racer he might win easily – so easily that it would appear that he is winning not through athletic talent but through the advanced technology of his artificial limbs. Anyway after the race, an international track and field authority decided to bar him from future races with ordinary runners. This decision raised controversy, and some Italian politicians, as always, got into the act. The question of whether he should be allowed to compete is a serious and complex one.  I don’t claim to have the right answer, but I am sure that the last persons to be deciding this issue are the politicians.

A 36 Hour Visit toFlorence … 

Was the subject of a recent article in the New York Times travel section that raised some eyebrows in Florence because it avoided the most famous sites in Florence for others less well known.  To see the recommendations of this offbeat itinerary visit: http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/06/03/travel/03hours.html Not Just Bright and Cheery – Also Airy 

I wrote recently how a friend selling her apartment was required by law to draw up plans to allow more light into one of the rooms. Another friend selling an apartment has a slightly different problem; one of her rooms fails to meet legal standards for sufficient cross ventilation. She too has to have a plan of modification drawn up (even if it is never implemented).  What is interesting is that laws mandating levels of illumination or ventilation in rooms do not “grandfather” older buildings.  So people selling apartments in older buildings very often will have problems meeting the new standards.

A New Religious Experience 

Last Sunday Italy had one of its numerous one-day train strikes.  So I planned to take the bus instead to church in

In Italy there are some very devout Catholics.  There are also people very opposed to the Catholic Church. The average person, however, is a Catholic in not a devout way – the Catholic religion is simply part of the culture and environment of the country but not in a way that seriously affects daily life.  The evangelicals I met seem to be more like the devout Catholics, persons for whole religion is a living and important reality in their everyday life.

The Stanford

I went to a concert of this group at the American Consulate in Florence. The leader is former professional jazz musician Fred Berry and the featured soloist was preeminent jazz trumpeter Jon Faddis. Of the 19 musicians in the band, only one is a music major at Stanford. This orchestra is an extra curricular activity, not an offshoot of the University’s music program. These kind of extra curricular activities don’t exist in Italian (and I think most European) universities.  The universities are strictly academic.  A graduate of an Italian university will have successfully navigated the difficult process of obtaining a degree (The students are pretty much on their own without help and encouragement from the university.) and will have a good grasp of his or her academic specialty. In

Over a year ago I wrote about attending the opening ceremonies initiating a municipal bicycle rental program in Pistoia. It works like this: around town at four different locations there are stands with bikes attached. You get a plastic card from the city (at a reasonable fee) which allows you to open up the locking device on the stand and take the bike. When you are done you return the bicycle and lock it to its stand. At one of the four locations there are three stands; one is not functioning and I have not seen a bike recently at the other two stands.  At another location there are three bicycles attached to the stands; all three have their seats removed and on one the chain is disconnected. All this is no surprise.  In

One wonders sometimes whether combining the virtues of the Germans and the Italians maybe could have a nation where things worked while being also beautiful. Probably not.  The German value upon order and efficiency necessarily makes esthetic considerations of lower importance (although certainly not totally unimportant) and vice versa for the Italian value upon appearance. You can’t maximize all possible good values at the same time.

An Italian friend told me that a German once said to him “Italy is in crisis. It has been in crisis for hundreds of years and probably will be so for hundreds more.  Meanwhile we Germans can’t wait for our vacation to visit

My Latest Article in The Florentine Newspaper

A Trip toVenice 

I went up to Venice for a day to see my American friends David and Candice Miller who had arrived there to begin a cruise around Greece and the Balkans. It was a religious holiday and restaurants along canal were advertising a fixed price dinner that night of 90 Euro (about $125). I was not staying in

And in what city also can a prosaic ride on public transportation from the train station to downtown provide such an enchanting journey as the trip along the Grand Canal on the vaporetto. 

Many cities may vie for the crown, but Venice certainly is a contender for the city in the world most dependent on tourism. I have some Italian friends who own an apartment in Venice.  They gave it to their son and his wife to live in. The son and his wife don’t work in Venice, where outside of tourism there are few jobs, but in a nearby suburb. They eventually gave up living in Venice because, with the commute to work each day and the inconveniences and cost of living in a city where everything must arrive by water, it just was not worth it

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What’s Wrong with This Picture? 

On the very same day, the Dow Jones stock average on the New York Stock Exchange reached an all time high while the value of the American dollar versus the Euro reached an all time low. Now I realize that the economic factors affecting stock prices and monetary exchange rates are not identical, but I would think that “confidence in the economy of the United States” would at least be one factor affecting both of these economic indicators so that they did not move in diametrically opposite directions.

The Shrinking Shoes — Part Two 

Last week I wrote about a shoe that had mysterious shrunk all of a sudden. I attributed it to a defect in the manufacturing process. I was wrong. This week I discovered another shoe in my closet shrunk in the very same way.  The villain?  I think it is the room deodorizer I recently put on the closet shelves with my shoes. It must contain a chemical that attacks the leather. I removed the deodorizer, and we will see if the problem ends.  

Earthquake Tragedy Aftermath 

In 2002 there was an earthquake in a small town in Italy in which an elementary school collapsed killing over 20 students and a teacher. A criminal case was brought against those involved in the construction of the building claiming that it was built in a criminally defective manner.  Last week all defendants in this case were found not guilty.  The parents of the dead children went almost crazy with anger at the verdict.  Now there are several possibilities here: (1) the building in fact was not built in a criminally defective way or (2) it was built in such a way, but after its collapse, there was not the evidence to prove this fact in court, or (3) the prosecution did prove it was built in a criminally defective manner but the judges who heard the case erred in their decision through simple error or through a bias in favor of the defendants. I mention these possibilities because the account of the case in Italian newspapers didn’t do such an analysis; instead there was simply a report of the raw emotions surrounding the verdict. In

This whole legal proceeding illustrates something about the Italian character.  The idea that this was simply an unavoidable accident caused by an earthquake is unacceptable to many Italians. With their conspiratorial viewpoint, the view immediately arises that somebody did something wrong and now we must discover who is at fault.  Also to see it simply as an accident is not to respect the feelings of the parents of the dead children.  Somehow they deserve “justice” which in this case means finding and punishing a “guilty” party.

Nostalgia Time 

The year 2007 is the twenty-fifth anniversary of Italy’s triumph in the soccer World Cup of 1982 and the first anniversary of the similar triumph in 2006. Lot’s of articles in the papers this month about these two glorious events of the past.

More Nostalgia 

Fiat has unveiled this month the new edition of its popular little Cinquecento (500) model that was the car you see in Italian films of the 1960s and 1970s. Bringing back a new model of this car is sort of like the new VW Beetle introduced a few years ago. You still see lots of the original Cinquecentos on the street – they are a nice city car.  The prices of the new 500 range from 10,500 to 14,500 Euro.  Estimated orders for the rest of the year are 65,000.  One major difference in the new model; it will be made at Fiat factory in Poland.

Counterfeited Designer Goods – Tough Laws But… 

I wrote last week how Italy has a problem with fake designer named goods.  The laws here against producing, selling or buying false goods are strong.  As always in Italy, enforcement is another matter. African Blacks sell fake handbags on the streets of every city. When the police approach, the sellers pick up their goods and disappear only to return later.  It is sort of a silly game.

This week was the Pistoia Blues Festival which featured a large street market of t shirts, jewelry, African handicrafts, etc. Here the stands are on tables and the sellers can not just take their goods and run if the police arrive.  The police were there patrolling, and paying no attention to shoes and handbags, shirts, and shoes with fake labels of Prada, Dolce & Gabbana, etc. No country can afford to enforce 100% of its laws 100% of the time.  In every country the police exercise discretion, but in Italy law enforcement is so erratic that it reinforces the general disdain Italians have for their legal system.

Unpublished Article on Pistoia

If I had connections with travel magazines or newspaper travel sections so I could get my article published in one of them, this is an article I would like to have printed.  As it is, the article gives a summary of how I would promote a visit to Pistoia.

All My Friends Love Pistoia 

Fortunately I live in an Italian city, Pistoia, that is in the center of Tuscany so that it is not unduly difficult to entice friends touring

So a visit to Pistoia provides an enchanting example of a rich artistic, historical, and architectural heritage that can be sampled throughout Italy’s smaller cities.  This is something you don’t find in Akron,Louisville,or Oklahoma City.

Let’s begin with the cityscape itself. Pistoia’s Piazza del Duomo is often pictured in coffee table books of the beauty of Tuscany. It’s the feature that first induced me to consider Pistoia as my Italian home, discovered on a one-day excursion while I was staying in Lucca.  You walk through a pleasant downtown pedestrian mall and suddenly are catapulted into an expansive square framed by five impressive Medieval buildings –the Cathedral,the Baptistery,the Bell

A taste of the arts can begin right here.  The municipal art museum is in the City Hall – not a collection of masterpieces but well worth a visit. Contemporary art is often exhibited in a small gallery on the first floor of City Hall. Inside the Cathedral, among other treasures, is the Silver Altar of St. James – a masterpiece of medieval religious silverwork commissioned in 1287 and completed more than a century and a half later. The numerous panels illustrate Old and New Testament stories and the life of St. James. As you enter the Cathedral you are met with a lovely exterior lunette by Andrea Della Robbia. If you are a fan of the Della Robbia workshop, Pistoia is the place for you. The frieze that wraps around the front of the old hospital has seven panels each illustrating one of the Seven Works of Charity (dressing the naked, feeding the hungry, visiting those in prison, etc.). The administrator of the hospital managed to get himself depicted in each of the scenes.  In the church of San Giovanni Fuoricivitas (St John Outside the City which, in fact, is in the modern downtown) has a masterpiece by Luca Della Robbia, The Visitation.

The other major masterpiece in the city is found in the church of  San Andrea – the pulpit of Giovanni Pisano which is the equal of a similar one at the Cathedral in Pisa.  There are too many fine churches in

After all the church and museum visits, you may be tired of viewing examples of “The Sacred Conversation” or “The Adoration of the Virgin.”  Pistoia’s best known modern artist, Marino Marini, has a museum dedicated to his works, primarily graphic works but also some sculpture, located in the former Tau monastery. (If you are still up to some religious art, don’t miss the excellent frescoes in the part of the monastery next to Marini’s Museum.)  Just outside of Pistoia, east of Santomato, is the internationally renowned outdoor sculpture park, Fattoria di Celle with numerous works by famous artists such as Robert Morris and Alice Aycock.  Make an appointment for a visit through the park’s website.

When it is time to eat or simply relax, there is an ample choice of bars and restaurants. None of these can survive (as some restaurants do in the major cities) by serving mediocre food to a swarm of unsuspecting tourists.  Some of my favorites include:  La Bottegaia (Via del Lastrone 17) for fine Tuscan food and an exemplary wine selection,  Trattoria dell’Abbondanza (14 Via Abbondanza) for local specialties, Capotosta (1 Piazza Sala) for a very good meal at a reasonable price, or Trattoria Lo Storno (Via del Lastrone for what I might call a workingman’s lunch. As always in Italy, good bars abound.  If you are in town during the evening, many believe that the best pizza in Pistoia is made by is made by the American pizza chef at Arca Pizzaria and Grill Via Della Madonna 36. Although Italian pastries are adequate, they do not constitute a high point of Italian cuisine.  I prefer the tasty American items at Bang Fusion Bar on Via Della Madonna number 15.

Besides meriting a visit of at least one day, Pistoia, located on a main rail line, is an excellent and economical base for exploring the rest of Tuscany. The city has a number of three star hotels, one of four stars,Villa Capugi, Via di Collegigliato 45 (www. hotelvillacappugi.com), and a single two star accommodation, Hotel Firenze, Via Curatone and Montanara 42  (www. hotel-firenze.it). A half a block away on that same street (number 2) is a charming B&B, Canto Alla Porta Vecchia . Luxury apartment suites can be found at Arte Mura at Via P. Pozzi 6-8 (www. artemuraresidence.com).

The list of attractions above is certainly not exhaustive. The main tourist office in the Piazza del Duomo has a friendly staff to answer your questions and direct you to all the sights of the city.

A New Chapter in the Chinese Challenge

There has been a concern in Italy for years about counterfeit designer clothes, handbags, etc. with strict laws occasionally enforced.  Designer goods are an important Italian industry. There is also a growing concern here (as well as in the USA) about items such as food products imported from China – what are the safety and sanitary standards under which they are produced? (A high Chinese official in charge of food and drug safety standards was recently sentenced to death for taking bribes to overlook defects in products.) This week a new issue arose.  The police discovered tubes of fake Colgate toothpaste (complete with counterfeited cartons) from China which, it is claimed, may contain a toxic substance. Some of this toothpaste was also seized in Canada so the story may have appeared too in the American press; in

My Occasional Reminder

Despite my best efforts, I can’t be sure that my newsletter gets sent to all subscribers each week. If you don’t get it, remember to check web site www.bob.it.tt to see if a copy is posted there.

New Dangers in Naples

I have written in the past about crime in Naples. Now there is a new danger. The U.S. State Department has issued a warning for American tourists in Naples about the health risks from the mounds of uncollected garbage throughout the city.  The risk is said to be greatest for people with respiratory problems. I’ve never quite figured out whey they can’t get the garbage collected in Naples.

American Pizza Maker from Pistoia Visits the USA

My friend Greg, who is half owner of the pizzeria near my house, returned to the USA for a three week vacation in Florida.  While there he saw a restaurant building for sale for $39,000 and fantasized how much easier and more profitable if would be for him to run a restaurant there. His wife would gladly go to the USA, but I think they are reluctant to leave her parents.  His children are American citizens and, in my opinion, their prospects for the future are better in theUSA than in Italy. While there Greg enjoyed some of the foods that are especially good in America such as steak. He also noted, however, that a fine fresh fish was served with a mango sauce and coconut milk that for him ruined the fish.  In

Bicycle Storage

Off the lobby of my apartment building there are two small courtyards. In one courtyard there are two small enclosed dirt floor rooms.  I store my bicycles in one of these rooms. To take the bikes from this courtyard into the lobby, you have to go up three short flights of stairs. From the other courtyard it is only one short flight of stairs into the lobby, easier to carry a bicycle to the lobby.  Fortunately my bikes are light so it is not a problem for me to navigate the three short stair flights from the courtyard I use to the lobby. Bikes stored in the other courtyard have to be covered to protect them.  For two of the building residents recently, this turned out to be a little disaster. Residents often throw cigarette butts from their windows into the courtyards. One of these ignited the plastic cover over a bicycle and destroyed the bike.  A nearby bike was damaged but not destroyed. 

Tourism Update

After I noted last week that it seemed to me that tourism is increasing in Pistoia, an article appeared in the local newspaper that tourism in the last fourth months was up 60% over the same period last year.

Bargain Goods at Semi-Weekly Market inPistoia

When you shop at the market, you have to look closely at the goods you buy at bargain prices to see if they have a defect. Sometimes you discover a defect that is minor, for example a spot at the bottom of a shirt tail that nobody will ever see, and that does not diminish the bargain.  Other times the defect causes you not to make the purchase. I bought some nice shoes about six months ago with no noticeable defect.  After wearing them a few times, with no problem, suddenly the insole of one of them simply shriveled up. It is easy to replace an insole, but the whole shoe in fact shrunk.  Its mate is fine. Maybe the local shoemaker can stretch the shrunken shoe back to its original size. There must have been some problem in the manufacturing process of this shoe of which the company making it was aware. Thus it was sold cheaply to the market vendor. The shoes did not have the name of the maker in them

Don Milani

This is the 40^th anniversary of the death of this famous priest. He got in trouble with his superiors for writing a letter opposing the role of the military in Italy.  So they “punished” him by sending him to an obscure parish reachable only by mule track.  This was a place sort of like the most remote regions of West Virginia. The children at this place stopped school at the end of the elementary years and entered the few humble occupations available. Don Milani started a school to take them through the high school years using innovative teaching techniques which included, among other things, an emphasis on learning foreign languages.  His pupils have gone on to many accomplishments. His writings are much admired in Italy. Unfortunately he died at a relatively young age of cancer, but he is a genuine Italian hero. I could not find a site in English about him on the web.

In the Catholic Church sainthood requires more than just a life of exemplary virtue.  For example, a saint must have performed miracles. If, however, one thinks of sainthood in a more colloquial sense– a saint is somebody whose life embodied the highest human vitues– then Don Milani is a saint in a way that other candidates for official sainthood (such as Pope Pius XII) were not.  This is not to say Pius XII was a bad person; he simply was not a particularly great person.

Selling an Apartment — Bright and Cheery is Now Obligatory 

I asked a friend how her sale of her apartment was going. She told me that, as always in Italy, there was a slight problem. There is a new law in Italy that when you sell a house or apartment the rooms must have a certain ratio of light to size of room. As a result, she has to have plans drawn up to enlarge the door from living room to kitchen and remove a door that enters the living room so there is enough light in the living room. The buyer has the option of whether or not to require her to execute these plans. Now, I would think, that the amount of light that enters a room is obvious upon viewing the room. If you find the rooms in an apartment too dark for your taste, nobody makes you buy the apartment. This is just another example of an Italian law that solves a “non problem.” 

Beverly Hills Pastor 

The pastor at my church in Florence once served for six months at an Episcopal Church inBeverly Hills, California. Now our pastor has returned for vacation in July to his native Australia, where July is much more comfortable than Florence. The pastor of the church from Beverly Hills has come to Florence to be his replacement for July. The pastor from Beverly Hills is Gabriel Ferrer. His background is ideal for his post inBeverly Hills.His father is the actor Josè Ferrer.His mother is the singer Rosemary Clooney.His cousin is George Clooney.His wife is Debby (You Light Up My Life) Boone. If we could start a rumor that cousin George (who has a home on Lake Como) would be attending church this month, I think we could solve the problem of declining attendance during the summer months. 

Need an Espresso Machine  One of my friends manages a company that makes the La Marzocco espresso machine. It is a high-end machine that is sold mostly to restaurants and bars abroad. I suggested to him that the company might want to make a machine for home use — market it as sort of the Rolls Royce of home machines. He told me that they already are planning to do so and the model will come out in the fall. You  go to www.lamarzocco.com, skip intro, click on “English” under the changing photos and then on “Products” above the changing photos.  The machine is called the GS/3. I don´t say it makes better espresso (although it may) ,but I am sure if you want to win the snob appeal contest with your personal espresso machine, their model will do the job.

Train Strike in Germany Short train strikes are common in Italy.  It was just my luck this week to travel to Germany on the day of a German strike.  The stoppage was from 5-9 am. I was on an overnight train, and we were told that the train would stop from 5-9 am and all stops after 5 am would be four hours late. In fact the train started again at about 8 am so I was only three hours late. In Germany a projected four hour delay became three hours; in Italy an announced delay of four hours means the train will probably never arrive.

It’s Not All Inefficiency in Italy One morning I had to go for blood tests. The center in Pistoia that does this is very quick and efficient.  That same morning I needed a minor repair to my eyeglasses — one of the plastic pieces that rest on the side of the nose had broken.  The shop in Pistoia does such small repairs for free even though I always offer to pay.

Joke in German Newspaper

An ocean liner has a collision, and the passengers must abandon the ship. There are not enough lifeboats. Some passengers must jump into the sea wearing only lifejackets. Nobody wants to jump into the sea. A junior officer takes over the problem, and soon the sea is full of passengers in lifejackets. The captain asks him how he did it. He says, “simple. I told the Germans it was an order to jump; I told the Japanese it would increase their virility; I told the French they must do so for the Glory of France; I told the Italians it was forbidden to jump.”

I’ve Told You Many Times that the Italians Love Conspiracy Theories 

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Notice of Apartment for Rent Sent to Me by A Friend

ROME APARTMENT AVAILABLE HISTORIC CENTER DURING JULY, AUGUST Bright and cheerful one bedroom apartment, separate dining room and study (second bedroom), nicely furnished, well equipped modern kitchen, t.v. Sleeps three. Centrally located in Rome's Historic Center, close to the Pantheon, Campo de'Fiori, Forum, and public transportation. Great neighborhood for markets and restaurants. Available for July and August. Contact: diane@alfanet.it