thisweekinitaly.com

At the Art Museum

 At a recent art exhibit at a museum in Florence, there were often brief explanations of the paintings in both English and Italian. I have often mentioned the generally high level of artistic awareness among Italians. These explanations illustrated this phenomenon. They were short and assumed a fairly sophisticated understanding of both artistic techniques and art history. All Italians certainly don’t have this level of sophisticated understanding, but apparently among those who go to such museums, such a level of understanding is common.

 Highly Ranked Italian Medical System

 Newsweek magazine recently published a list of 100 nations ranked according to their quality of life as a place to live. The USA ranked 11^th and Italy 23^rd, but the highest rated aspect of life in Italy was its medical system which was ranked third among the 100 nations. People sometimes ask me what I do for medical care in Italy. I point out that I am enrolled in the Italian system (at a cost of about $550 a year for full coverage including drugs) and also in Medicare and Medicare Supp. in the USA (which I rarely use). Few retirees in the USA have as good overall medical coverage as I have.

 Integrating Muslims into Italian Society

 In Europe, and to some extent in the USA, there has been a lot of discussion about whether Muslims will integrate into the general society or always remain a group apart. I rarely see in Italy a Muslim woman with a face covering, but of course many wear the head scarf. When I see Muslim teenagers, except for the scarves on the girls, these kids seem indistinguishable from the Italian ones. They wear the same clothes. The girls all have the same kind of make-up. Muslims and non Muslims are talking to each other. All are quick to use the call phone. There have been cases in Italy of Muslim families taking extreme means to end a romance between a daughter and a non Muslim Italian, but this is not the typical reaction. I cannot say the extent to which Muslims will integrate in succeeding generations, but among the youth they are not completely separate.

 The World of High Fashion (Who Wears This Stuff?)

 When you see on TV a fashion show of a major clothes designer, you often see avant guarde clothes that may be interesting (or ridiculous) , but hardly look practical. Recently I saw an exhibition of the works of designer Roberto Capucci at the Bardini Museum in Florence. These were not presented as dresses, but as sculptures. Probably this is a more accurate description. You can examples athttp://www.fondazionerobertocapucci.com/ispirazioneNatura1.xml

or http://www.fondazionerobertocapucci.com/gallerie/galleriaMuseo.htm

 Does This Deserve to be the Number One News Story in Italy?

 A while back Fiat fired three employees, union activists, for unacceptable behavior on the job. The three went to a Labor Court where the judge ruled that firing them was a disproportionate penalty for their offenses. He ordered Fiat to rehire them. Fiat responded that it would pay them their salary, but they were forbidden to enter the factory. In addition to a controversy between Fiat and the union, this is also an issue between the union of the three, and two other unions who represent Fiat employees, but don’t support the case of these three. Now I am not expressing an opinion about who is right in this case – I don’t know all the facts or Italian law. I am saying that it seems “small potatoes” to be the number 1 story in Italy. I think that the status of labor/management relations in Italy is probably one of the many problems inhibiting economic growth in the nation.

 Updating the Last Newsletter

 My weekly newsletter is a two-way street with people often sending me comments and corrections at bobnrodvall@hotmail.com. My item about the illuminated advertising on a urinal in Germany brought an e mail telling me they have musical sinks in the restrooms at the Denver Art Museum that are activated by turning on the water. I discovered that Slovakia (and perhaps other countries too) has cash machines that allow you to specify the denominations of the bills you want to receive. As to the arty type of wedding photography in Italy, I now know that this us an international phenomenon thanks to the following from the father of a recent bride:

 It was interesting to read your comments about the changing content of wedding photos.  Having just gone through the wedding of our daughter, which included wide searching for the right photographer, we can tell you that what you’ve seen is pretty much standard for this whole generation, not just Italy.  Of the several hundred shots our photographer took, about 8 were conventional poses of the couple by themselves and with various family members.
 
It’s called “urban cool,” and it is the de-rigueur style for young people everywhere.  We saw it in Split, Croatia:  wedding photographer out on the streets, posing the young folks lolling on benches, leaning on Egyptian peristyles, jumping up in the air, etc.    
 

Pistoia Views

 My Australian friend David Emery who lives in Pistoia has taken up painting in retirement. A group of his paintings are now on display at the Globo Café in Pistoia. His usual subject is buildings and I have an album of a few of his views of Pistoia at http://cid-147d7e5c470b06da.photos.live.com/browse.aspx/David%20Emery%20Pistoia%20Views20Emery%20Pistoia%20Views  You can click on a photo to get a description of it.

 If you would like to purchase one of his masterpieces, his e mail is davidnina09@hotmail.com   

 Pistoia News

 The doping investigation of the Giostra dell’Orso is over.  One horse tested positive — the third place finisher out of four.  Maybe they need a different drug next year.  Meanwhile two seasonal headlines are in the news again this year, as every year.  First “Mushroom Hunter Lost in Woods” or “Mushroom Hunter Found Dead in Woods” Second “Exorbitant Prices This Year for School Textbooks”

German Ingenuity

 When I am in Germany, I always note little things that the Germans just seem to do better than others. At a cash machine, after I indicated my desired withdrawal there was a feature that allowed me to specify the denominations of the bills for  the amount I wanted to withdraw,  Maybe this exists elsewhere, but I hadn’t seen it before.

 On the other hand when ingenuity is mixed with crass commercialism, the results can be less encouraging.  At a restaurant, both the packs of sugar on the table and the paper towel roll in the restroom had advertisements printed on them.  I have seen this before, but not the other new feature in this bathroom.  On the top of the urinals there was an advertisement. As you began to urinate, this activated a light behind the advertisement that suddenly became illuminated.

 German Trains

 I have mentioned before that they are about twice as expensive as those in Italy, but of much higher quality.  Now Germany, like many other nations, is flirting with the idea of a mixed public/private ownership and management of the train system. The idea is that the government can give the train system less money, but the efficiency of private enterprise will allow trains to run with the same quality of service.  If this idea has worked anywhere, I don’t know where that country is.  My train in Germany was 18 minutes late.  There were more bathrooms out of order on the trains. You could see other little degradations in cleanliness and efficiency.  The high-speed German trains are slower than those in Italyor at elast make more stops along the way. All in all the German trains, while still superior to thsoe of Italy, now are clearly not worth twice the cost of those in Italy.

 Wedding Photos

 I suppose that wedding videos have supplemented and at times replaced wedding photos, but the wedding photo tradition continues in Italy.  The conventions, however, are different. In the USA you have the photos of the families, of the wedding party, the cutting of the wedding cake, etc.  These may exist in Italy, but in photo shops what is shown in the window are the more “artistic” poses. There will be the bride stretched out on a bench.  Another is the bride and groom on the stairs of the church (or some other building) but separated.  Some of these photos are how models are posed in advertisements.  Of course, there will be some of the bride and groom together, but “togetherness” in the American sense is not a strong feature of the wedding photos.

 The Palio

 This famous short horse race around the main plaza of Siena takes place twice each summer.  The contestants are the various sections of the city. This year a government minister stirred controversy by suggesting that the danger to the horses in this race (horses sometimes are injured) should cause the city to reconsider this tradition of centuries.  Of course, her suggestion got nowhere, but did get her name in the headlines, which was probably its purpose.  Meanwhile on the day of the race, a visitor from a sister city of Siena in France was among an official delegation to the event. As he was eating dinner outside, a large piece of stone broke off of the balcony above and killed him. Another spectator was injured when a large banner (of one the city sections) thrown in the air landed on her.  The good news was that no horses were hurt this year.

 Meanwhile, Pistoia had its miniature version of a Palio, the Giostra d’ Orso, a competition among four sections of the city.  It does not involve passions as does the Palio of Siena, but this year one of the losing sections claims that the a horse was drugged.

 NEWS FLASH.  The horses at the Palio in Siena are routinely  checked for doping after the race.  The samples are sent to two different labs. This year the two labs came up with conflicting results.  An investigation has been opened.

 Photos

 Last week I wrote about a trip to Solomeo in Umbria and another to Peacock Island near Berlin.  I have photo albums of these two trips for those who are interested.  Unfortunately I did not rotate the horizontal photos before putting them in the albums, but still the photos may give a good sense of the two places.

 Solomeo
 
http://cid-147d7e5c470b06da.photos.live.com/browse.aspx/solomeo
 
Peacock Island
 
http://cid-147d7e5c470b06da.photos.live.com/browse.aspx/Berlin%203

A Trip to Solomeo

A friend sent me a while back an article “The Prince of Solomeo” about Brunello Cucinelli (The New Yorker March 29, 2010) who produces very high end cashmere garments and other fabrics in his home town of Solomeo in nearby Umbria. He has used the profits from the company to restore and improve the town so it a little model city. I went for a visit. There is no big factory; the workers produce the items in the original town buildings in small workshops. Everything is beautiful, pristine, and well maintained. No shops, bars, restaurants, at least in restored area. Of course, the town was never really like this in the past just as modern Williamsburg, Virginia does really reproduce what the city was in colonial times. There are no mud streets, excrement of horses, garbage thrown out the back door, hawkers peddling their wares, etc. It is very lovely but a bit antiseptic.

I went to the outlet store in one of the buildings. Cucinelli cashmere sweaters sell for $1000 in USA. At the store they had regular merchandise at a discount, closeout items at a bigger discount, and finally “seconds” at an even bigger reduction. Each “second” item had a tag telling what its defect was. I felt I could splurge and afford a T shirt. One in the “seconds” bin had a tag saying there was a spot on the front. I could not find it. The clerk could not find it. Finally I saw something that might be the spot – quite obscure. So I bought it. I always thought paying a lot of money for a T shirt was per se silly, and here I was paying $80 for this one. I will say the cotton is softer by far than any T shirt I have ever owned.

In the store was a lovely leather carry-on bag with wheels for a plane trip. It cost about $1700. At an airport there are always warnings about not leaving luggage unattended; it may be seized by airport security and even destroyed. If one left this bag unattended, somebody would probably steal it before the airport security folks ever saw it. If it ended up in the hands of the airport security folks, they certainly would not destroy this bag.

Basilicata Leads the Nation

My ancestral region of Basilicata is not one of the prominent areas of Italy in population, wealth, size, etc. This week, however, it led the nation in one statistic. The national health service did an audit the eligibility of persons getting disability checks from the government. Basilicata had the highest percentage of canceled disability payments, almost 30%.

A Conversation in Pistoia with an English Tourist

His grandfather was a prisoner of war of the Italians in WWII. After Italy surrender in 1943, his grandfather left the prisoner of war camp before the Germans arrived to take it over. He walked for six months and finally was able to cross the Allied lines. After the War he returned to the site of the camp at times because the Italians had treated him so well. (I recall reading about German prisoners in the USA who did the same thing after WWII.) The food was probably better in the Italian camp than in England—certainly better than English Army food. As I’ve noted many times, the Italians are not mean spirited. When the grandfather got back to England, after a four year absence, his wife was pregnant by an American soldier. He reunited with his wife and raised the child as his own. The English often show an admirable civility.

Lance Armstrong and Use of Banned Performance Enhancing Drugs

There is currently an investigation underway in the USA as to whether cyclist Lance Armstrong used performance enhancing drugs and also knew of the use of these by his teammates. He denies the allegations. In the USA you can find people who believe Lance and those who don’t. In Italy few if any believe him because here the consensus is that all cyclists use such drugs. Furthermore, if it turns out that Lance has been lying, nobody here will be disillusioned with him as some will be in the USA. It is expected in Italy that a cyclist will deny such use. Expectations in general of honesty in sports (and elsewhere) are lower in Italy.

Nigerian Immigrant

The illegal Nigerian immigrant about whom I reported his third arrest because he was illegally in Italy, has been released to a friend’s address until his case is decided. The court is waiting to see if his request for legal status has been granted by the central government. As noted before, if it turns out that it has not, he won’t return for his final day in court. Maybe then he will be arrested a fourth time in the future.

Notes from Germany

I am in Germany visiting my son and his family with a side trip to Berlin.

In Berlin on the subway they have an interesting way to fight graffiti. The windows are covered with a thin film that can be torn off and replaced if people paint or scratch on it. The seats are covered with a very complex design on which it is difficult to make graffiti visible.

While I the subway I noticed that the man across from me had a rather large nose. After we exited the subway car, my friend Max reminded me that when I was last in Berlin I had seen an election poster and asked if the person pictured on it was the candidate of The Large Nose Party. It was this same guy on the subway.

When I was in Baltic states recently, I noticed hitch hikers on the road. Something I see much less today in the USA. My German friend Max said he recently picked up a young couple hitch hiking in Germany going to Berlin. To make conversation he asked them what their occupation was. They said they worked for “F**k the Forest.” Max naturally asked what this was. Their group makes amateur pornographic videos that are sold over the Internet and part of the profits are dedicated to the cause of saving the world’s rain forests. I don’t know how this organization would rank as a Green Business.

From Berlin we took a trip to Peacock Island in nearby Potsdam. This island was used by the King and Queen of Prussia in late 18^th and 19^th centuries as a rural retreat. The dairy building was a faux castle. The stables were made to look like a village church. As the description of the island pointed out, the buildings maybe looked like something you might find in a rural village, but inside they were pure luxury. The royal family imported birds including peacocks from which the island takes its name. This area is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

More from the Baltic Countries

After Lithuania, I visited Riga in Latvia and Tallinn in Estonia. Although Latvia is apparently in the most financial trouble of the three nations due to the world recession, it appears as prosperous, if not more so, than the others. In part this may be because it was more prosperous during the early 20^th century before the WWII. It has some lovely Art Nouveau buildings from this period. Both Riga and Tallinn were members of the Hanseatic League of trading cities during the late medieval and early modern period. This gave them great wealth at those times.

 Tallinn is more Scandinavian looking than the other two capitals. Estonia will be the first Baltic nation to enter the Euro zone. It will do so next year. All three capitals have very lovely Old Town sections. They have attractive churches, but the art in these churches does not compare with the richness you see in Italy. If you had visited these cities in 1989, before the fall of the Soviet Empire, they certainly would have looked much more drab and backward than they do today. Although these countries have infrastructure problems that reflect the neglect of the Communist years, they are making rapid progress. If not already, soon they may be more modern than Italy.

 These three nations are looking forward and not agonizing over the past in which they were almost always under the domination of somebody else. Still the past is not totally gone. In Estonia during WWII, young men were forced to serve in the German Army or the Russia Army depending upon who was in control at the time. At the end of the war, Estonians fought against each other as these two armies clashed. On the anniversary of the most important battle, there are two reunions of veterans (depending upon which army they served in) at the site, and police are present to avoid any problems.

 The most impressive thing I saw in the Baltic nations: the huge nests that storks build on chimneys or telephone poles. They add another layer to the nests each year. I can’t imagine how a chimney functions with one of thee nests on top.

 In the Baltic and Scandinavian area, the winters are long, dark, and cold, but the summers are glorious.

 Local Girl Makes Good

 A woman from nearby Montecatini Terme, was crowned Miss Fat Lady of Italy. She weighs 375 pounds. Despite the growing obesity problem in Italy, I read that in Europe the rate of obesity is still lowest in Italy and France.

 An Old Maxim Updated

 It is said that as ancient Rome changed from a Republic to a corrupt empire, the local population was pacified with “bread and circuses.” Silvio Berlusconi has updated this strategy. He entered politics in the early 1990s with his reputation as Italy’s most successful businessman. Thus he was a man to lead the Italian economy to greater prosperity. He was first elected in 1994. The leading 30 nations in the world are part of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OEDC). From 1994 to 2007, Italy was last among thee counties in its rate of economic growth. In short, Silvio did not deliver the bread. He did, however, do (and does) a great job with the circuses: his reign is like an ongoing soap opera in which the news is constantly full of: his sexual excesses, his alleged corruption, his legal problems, his personal family problems, etc. A majority of Italians seem to love the SILVIO SHOW while the rest of the world looks on in wonder.

 Political Update (I wish I could make it simpler, but I can’t)

 Talking about Berlusconi, I note that his recent political problems made the news in the USA with stories saying that his government might fall. It did not happen. His coalition survived a “vote of confidence,” but a group of deputies, some from the opposition and some dissenters from Berlusconi’s coalition, did abstain in the vote. Had they voted “no,” the motion of no confidence would have succeeded. So they obviously have a “balance of power” now.

 This group is led by the two men who hope to succeed Berlusconi. These guys have figured out that Berlusconi will probably never retire. He started the main party in the governing coalition and will give up the head of it only when they carry him out feet first. Each of the two is eager to get to the top before then.

 As I have mentioned before, Berlusconi’s party is strong in the South even though its main coalition partner, the Northern League, wants to have more government power sent to the regions so the wealth in the North will stay in the North and not go in national taxes to be distributed disproportionately to the South. Some say that southern members of Berlusconi’s coalition are becoming more worried now that the League’s plan will happen, and the south will suffer. So they are attracted to a dissenting group within the main coalition.

 Usually when a government falls in a Parliamentary system, the opposition wants immediate elections because it hopes to come to power. Not so in Italy. If elections were held now, Berlusconi would win again. So the opposition wants a transitional government (called a technical government) whose main task would be to draw up a new election law under which the opposition’s chances might be better. A transitional government, however, only makes sense if the major political players agree that this is best solution for a temporary period and support the government’s efforts, Berlusconi is totally opposed to a transitional government. If his government falls, he wants immediate elections.

 The famous World War II acronym, SNAFU, applies as usual to Italian politics today

 A Good Summary of My Philosophy

 This is from Robert Cottrell, a British journalist who has spent his life abroad as correspondent in various places for publications like the Financial Times and the Economist. I have friends in the USA (and elsewhere I assume) who would disagree strongly with his statement. That is fine; it isn’t an idea upon which all need to agree. I do agree.

 “When I was growing up and living in England, I would subscribe unconsciously to British exceptionalism: that this country was special, that this city was special, and that these people were special. That, in the end, there was no other place in the world where I would rather live. That our national values, whatever they were, were somehow superior to other people’s values, and that our history was somehow more glorious. I think everyone thinks that about the country in which they grow up, or the country in which they continue to live. It’s only by separating yourself from your native country and living in other countries that you can see that all countries are special in their different ways; and actually there are people just like you and just like your friends all over the world, who have perfectly satisfying and interesting lives in wildly different circumstances.”

 Two Recent Articles of Interest

 The first, from the New York Times, is about the problems of an Italian businessman that turn out to be problems that are endemic in Italy, not just in his company. The second, from the New York Review of Books, is an essay reviewing four recent books and a film about the excesses of Mr. Berlusconi.

 The Insanity Defense

 Like the USA, mental incapacity is a defense to a crime in Italy. A few months ago a 42 year old lady from the Ukraine in a town near to Pistoia tried to induce an abortion by herself. The baby nevertheless was born alive. She then suffocated the child. The court has ordered a psychiatric evaluation for her. Obviously a woman who kills her own child may be suffering from a serious mental problem, but I believe that her defense is even more likely to succeed in Italy. Children are so important and loved in Italy, that killing one’s infant at birth is almost per se proof of insanity.

 A New Toilet

 Although toilets usually last for decades, the one in my apartment cracked after eight years. While I was in the Baltic States, my landlord had a new one installed. It is a simple toilet and the installation was also a simple act. The cost was 500 Euro which is $650. These kinds of goods and services cost much more in Italy than in the USA. One thing that I have found to be less expensive in Italy is shoe repair.