Archivarius - Saggi a cura di/Essays by Luca Logi (llogi@dada.it)
rec.travel.europe 1999 - My personal archive
by Luca Logi
Athens, A political travelogue - Florence at easter time - Cellular phone available in Europe - Immigrants in Italy - Italian food abroad - Speaking Latin in Italy - Too much scaffolding in Europe?
Subject: Athens, A political travelogue
Well, I wrote the first post in this thread when I was notified that I had to travel with the 120-persons orchestra I work with, for a concert at Athens' Concert Hall. I am an Italian citizen (so belonging to EU and Schengen area), and I do not even need a passport for Greece (a national ID card will do). Just wondering if the ID card was going to be checked.
We left from Fiumicino airport, Schengen area. IDs were checked, but it looked like a random security control, not an immigration control. We arrived at Athens airport and we were addressed to a non-Schengen entrance (together with the flight from Tirana, Albania). EU nationals were perfunctorily checked, non EUs underwent more serious examinations.
What I forgot is that Mr. Bill Clinton, President of the USA, was scheduled to visit Athens during that very days. At this time Americans are popular in Greece, but American foreign politics is not; Greeks have something to remark about American support to the old colonels' dictatorship, to the American support (real or presumed) to the Turkish role in Cyprus, and also bombing Orthodox Serbs was not considered as the best taste. To put it shortly, harsh form of dissent to Clinton's visit were expected, so we found Athens being controlled by more than 8000 policemen and soldiers ready for a civil war. To make things more complex, the Athens Concert Hall is just in front of the American Embassy, which was reputed to be an 'hot' zone.
In the real world, my original question revealed to be a ridicolous one. I ended up showing my ID even while crossing the road (on both sides of the road). Friday at 19 PM we were even forbidden by the police to leave the venue, as there was an outbreak of civil unrest in the Syntagma area (with 20 wounded persons and several shops being given fire). Well, we can say that Bill had an hot welcome.
On Saturday morning the traffic was blocked. We (the 4 orchestra staff) boarded a taxi, but the main boulevards were closed and it took a long detour to get to the center. Later we got back to the hotel walking, but the boulevards were closed even to walkers (even, in our case, walkers repeatedly showing their IDs), so we had to do a long walking detour under the pouring rain. Please do not name me Mr. Clinton again. You shouldn't name hime even to the 8000 soldier which stood a full day in the rain.
As usual, Greek hospitality was marvellous and the people at the Concert Hall are very good professionals.
We left Sunday. At Athens airport our IDs were carefully checked (even the ID numbers where checked on the computer to see if they were stolen or fake). At Rome we arrived at a non-Schengen area (together with airplanes from Cuba and Pristina, Kosovo). IDs were checked again (very quickly for EUs, very slowly for non-EUs).
And then we took our bus to Florence. In Florence the traffic was very slow because... well, Mr. Clinton had preceded us in our home town. Oh, I forgot to tell that our Florence Opera House is (again) just in front of the American Consulate and very near also to Mr. Clinton's hotel. No unrest were reported in Florence (the anti-Clinton activities were very calm and serious).
Now I am waiting for tomorrow. Mr. Clinton will leave and we will be left with our usual problems of gipsy children assaulting tourists and restaurants overcharging patrons. Yawn. If you need a little bit of adventure you should schedule your travels with an eye to the American president.
Subject: Florence at easter time
I think it's a good time to visit Florence, but yes it will be crowded and you will encounter some museum closings but there will be other rewards. I wonder if they still set off fireworks from an antique wooden cart in the middle of the day.
Yes, it is still done on Easter morning. The cart is more like a wooden tower on wheels, and it is dragged by eight oxen to the front of the Cathedral. The way is long (it leaves from il Prato - the little and high space close to Hotel Villa Medici with wooden doors is its home) and the cart totters a lot; so it was dubbed 'brindellone' (a tall and lazy boy).
As the cart is in front of the Cathedral, a wire is strung between the cart and the high altar. The Archbishop will celebrate the 12 AM Mass, and when the 'Gloria' comes, he will use some fire stones brought to Florence during the crusades to set fire to a wooden dove on the wire. The dove has some explosive on its tail, and will fly all the way to the cart, triggering the explosion of fireworks on the cart. The whole cerimony is called 'Lo scoppio del carro' (blowing up the cart).
In ancient time the flight of the wooden dove was considered as an omen of the following year. If the dove didn't arrive to the cart, this was foretelling a very bad year; if the dove arrived to the cart and was exploded back to the altar, this was a sign of an exceptionally good year. But now all the cerimony is organized by professional fireworkers, so everything always goes for the best and the dove always goes back to the altar.
Subject: Cellular phone available in Europe??
Cell phones are available both in general consumer electronics stores and in telephony stores. Even the most basic GSM (digital) model will do, you don't need all the bells and whistles. Avoid old analog ETACS phones.
A GSM alone will not work. Then you need a SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card, that is a smart card to be put in the phone and containing all the identity and billing informations. SIM cards are issued by national GSM network providers, and are to be found both in telephony stores (larger selection) or in consumer electronic stores.
A GSM SIM card is generally tied to a subscription - you will need to let the network provider know your identity and how the bills are to be charged to you (for example, on your credit card). Some network providers issue also prepaid SIM card - you pay before the use and have a credit line - if you counsume all your credit you should buy a recharge (usually in the form of some secret code).
Every network provider has different billing plans - you may choose according to expected use of your phone. SIM card are issued in two formats - as big as a credit card or as little as a stamp; the format you need depends on the model of cell phone.
While all GSM phones may theorically be used all over Europe (roaming), this actually depends on the billing plan. Most prepaid SIM cards are not authorized to be used outside their issuing countries, and there could be also limitations on some subscription plans - you should ask before you buy.
Just to have an idea, the going rate for a basic GSM cell phone in Italy is less then Lit.400000 (US$ 220) including a Lit.50000 (US$ 30) prepaid GSM card. (The card, issued separately, involves a US$30 setup fee).
I guess some racism may be present everywhere in the world, and - on the other side - there is also some intra-Italian racism (with people from the north against people of the south). But generally speaking, I do not think most Italians have any real feeling about other races. Italy is a melting pot of races since some millennia, and also there isn't a really single Italian identity (there are much more regional identities).
The real matter with foreign people is not: "What is the colour of your skin?" or "When do you come from?" but "How are you going to integrate in our society?". Members of some foreign nationalities are - generally speaking - very well integrated (I am thinking, for example, to Filipinos); other nationalities are not faring so well.
The people you see on the street are, very often, illegal immigrants. Italians may like them or not, but the thruth is that Italy is close to Eastern Europe, Africa and Middle East - only few hours by boat - and there is very little that can be done to stop illegal immigration. Immigration has both economic causes (e.g. people from Morocco) or political causes (e.g. Kurds from Turkey), and large criminal organizations thrive on organizing illegal immigration - actually this could turn as being more profitable then selling drugs, and it is largely a problem to be resolved in the next century. Solutions are not easy; the easy solutions - building Berlin walls, Chinese walls, putting electric fences and bombing boat people - seem to be a little too inhumane.
(There is a short story about illegal immigration. When the Schengen treaty - which lifts custom controls between several countries - was discussed, German authorities were very concerned that too many Kurds were illegally entering Germany arriving through Italy. Italian authorities replied that much more Poles were illegally entering Italy through Germany.- Again, what could be done? Should Germans build a wall at the border?)
Illegal immigrants selling rugs on the streets are not there because of discrimination; and were they able to find a steady job it wouldn't be really difficult to get them a work permit and an immigration permit for their families. What is difficult is to find a regular job - this is partially due to Italy's 10% unoccupation rate. What you see on the streets are people that were not able to find a job - not even a 'black', irregular job.
An interesting point is that some illegal immigrants are to be deported, it is often very difficult to have the collaboration of their home countries - their authorities seem not to be wanting to have them back.
Usually in every place the best choice is the local food. I didn't like Chinese cooking (as tasted in Chinese restaurants in Italy), but when I went in China I found very good and enjoyable restaurants there; on the contrary, Italian cooking outside of Italy is often questionable.
I would explain this in two ways:
*it is not always easy to find the correct ingredients or spices in a foreign land (for example is very difficult to find a good mozzarella outside of Italy, thus ruling out the original pizza recipes); cooks have to use frozen or canned ingredients instead of fresh ones or substitute them;
*often the migrating cooks come from a particular region of their home country, and they are at ease only with their own regional cooking (not with all the recipes they have to prepare).
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I would add that the best cooking in Italy is not to be sampled in restaurants, but in private homes. Loving preparation of food is still part of our culture - while restaurants like to make a show of their recipes, which are often too complex and too heavy.
Also, Italy is a touristy country. Usually an heavy presence of tourists drives the standards down - tourists are willing to spend more than locals, and they are often not able to evaluate how the cooking compares with other restaurants. And business with tourists is the typical non-repeat business. So in touristed areas there could be little incentive to restaurant owners to keep up standards.
Subject: Speaking Latin in Italy
I find myself disappointed in later life that several (enjoyed) years of Latin at school helps me less than I would have hoped with Italian. The best thing for Italian seems to be listening to Opera CDs.
You are right; usually persons trying to speak Latin go nowhere (or at least they need some old, pre-Council priests to be understood); while a little operatic Italian (even if sounding 19th century-ish) usually gets the job done. Personally, I have learnt a lot of German words - enough to sustain conversation - just by long and repeated study of Bach, Wagner and Strauss vocal works.
About ancient Greek: a group of friends of mine were waiting in Patras for the ferry to Brindisi, but they did not know at which time it was leaving. One of them approached a group of sailors and made a question in ancient Greek - the sailors began to laugh out very loud.
"What have you asked them?" "I asked: at which notch on the clepsydra will the trireme be leaving?"
Subject: Too much scaffolding in Europe?
If a road in New York has an hole in the middle, you just pour some concrete and everything is fine. If a road in Florence downtown has an hole in the middle, you should find a stone somewhat similar to the stone already used, and have a stonemason place it. The whole process costs maybe five times as pouring some concrete the New York way.
And when you see scaffolding on a monument, please do no think restoration of a Reinassance facade is as easy as painting the front of your home (BTW, how much time did it pass since you repainted the front of your home and how much it did cost?)
No, this is not Disneyland. Just think to the people who have an home in Venice and how much should they pay out of their own pocket for ordinary home maintenance.
Aggiornata al 12 gennaio 2000 - Last adjourned Jan. 12th, 2000 - (C) Luca Logi 2000