Italia!

We arrived in Torino at night, and checked into our 4 star hotel. Every hotel in Europe gets a star rating. We’ve stayed in many decent one and two star hotels, once in a while a three star, but this was our first, and to date only, 4 star hotel (we got a great deal on the internet). It was nice, but nothing to write home about it. Wait, I am writing home about it! Ha ha!
Anyway, the next day we toured Torino, also known as Turin in English. We went to the old town and walked around the square and saw some of the most significant buildings, including the cathedral where the shroud of Turin, supposedly the garment Jesus last wore, is kept. I have to say that, as a non-Christian, this was of very minor interest to me. Anyway, the shroud was apparently on tour, and there was a replica. Neither of us found Torino very appealing, so after a little while we hit the road.
I got the idea to go to Cinque Terre, when I looked them up and saw that they were near Genoa, and we would need to go through Genoa to get over to the south of France. I had heard about Cinque Terre from my friend Yana, and also saw some amazing pictures from there in the past. Cinque Terre is actually five seaside villages with colorful houses and winding streets. They are linked by a mountainous road overlooking the Mediterranean. To go from one to the other, you can swim, take a train, drive, or hike. We drove. Our pictures will hopefully display the beauty of these villages and their setting much better than I can describe. Although at times very touristy, they were absolutely delightful, and must be among the top sites in Italy. We did hear more American English in our evening and following morning there than we did on the rest of our trip combined. It felt strange sitting next to another American couple, overhearing their conversation and feeling more self-conscious about being understood.
Anyway, Italy was an unplanned, last minute detour, and I am glad we did it. Cinque Terre was definitely one of the highlights of our European journey.
Before leaving Italy, and re-entering France, we stopped at a small town on the Mediterranean, and walked around. We rolled up our pants and went wading in the sea. Then, of course, we got some gelato before getting back on the road.
Thoughts about Italy (skip if you are Italian or get bored easily):
I’ve always found Italy perplexing, somewhat of an enigma. On one hand, it is undoubtedly and indisputably one of the world capitals of design, fashion, the arts, cinema, cuisine, sports cars (Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, etc.) and more. “Made in Italy” carries with it a prestige and air of exclusivity. Every city in the world has Italian restaurants. It is considered among the most romantic destinations, birthplace of the Renaissance and a world capital of art and culture. Its architects and designers have been sought after for centuries. On the other hand, it undoubtedly has many characteristics of a Third World country with a mentality to match.
Some of our observations in less than 48 hours in the country (we have both been before):
Except for the Chinese girl working the desk at our first, 4 star hotel, no one spoke English. At our hotel in Cinque Terre the following night, no one, young or old, spoke any English. This was a 3 star hotel in one of the most touristic places in the country.
At this aforementioned hotel, the water ran out in the middle of Erin’s shower (and, unlike me, her showers aren’t 30 minutes long).
Drivers were very aggressive and were always honking.
There were no public restrooms anywhere (a problem in France too, but not as bad). A place we ate at looked at Erin like she was crazy for asking if they had a restroom.
The streets and buildings did not look very clean. There were places that looked more like Mexico than France or the rest of Western Europe.
In order to register for our hotel, they asked me to fill out a long form, including asking where both of us were born, something that has not been asked of us in any other part of Europe.
The restaurants charge you for bread, and for tap water (both free in France).
By the way, back in France today, we entered a pastry shop and were warmly welcomed and given a free cookie. I told Erin “That wouldn’t happen in Italy”. She said, “It would, but then they would charge you for it”.
These were just some of our observations. Things about Italy I know from reading and from knowing people who have lived there:
The mafia is still very powerful, especially in the south of the country. But a friend working in the north taught a student whose father was kidnapped by the Mafia. She was told by the school director not to mention the mafia.
Italians played very dirty during the last World Cup (I was rooting for France, of course).
Corruption is a major problem. Political parties routinely buy votes. I read an article a few months ago, where a political party in Italy is paying money to those who take photos with their cell phone of their ballot, showing they voted for them.
You need the right connections to get any kind of decent job in Italy.
There are very few opportunities for young people.
Immigrants are blamed by politicians and the Italian media for most of the country’s problems.
The Italian government changes more often than any other in Western Europe.
Huge mounds of garbage collected for many months on the sidewalks and streets of Naples due to a strike. Nobody did anything about it.
Perhaps most disturbing of all is this story:
http://www.zmag.org/znet/viewArticle/18475
In short, although one has to be in awe of the country’s many achievements, I wonder how it can be backward in so many other ways. I was here in 1992, with my friends Gleb and Yan, and we had some bad experiences then. I know there are beautiful places in Italy, and I just saw some of them, and I love Italian food and cars, but it’s a country I find hard to understand. It’s not one of my favorite countries.

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