Bet you didn't know...
Did you know Italy contains 70% of the world's art? Think about that for
a second, a country so small physically is so crammed full of art,
monuments, churches, artifacts, tombs and on and on!! It is just amazing
to me the whole concept, thinking about the number of people who passed
through the country leaving such an imprint and patrimony for the rest
of the world to come. No wonder Italy is so short on living space. ;-)
Meucci was the father of the telephone, not Mr. Bell; in fact Bell was
well known for pirating his inventions. Marconi was the father of the
radio and I bet you did not know the world's first freeway, created
conceptually and physically constructed was here is this little land of
dreamers and creators. Today the Italian autostrada is one of the best
out there that is, if you do not judge it for the curves. With such a
lack of space to build freeways, and the fact people will not sell land,
the roads have to curve around history and stubbornness, so remember
this when you are screaming down the road and have to back off by 50 mph
to make a curve and stay alive. They have the best and world's only
draining asphalt so when it rains, you can see the road; it is truly
amazing (and still drive fast).
Now a quick tip on how to choose Gorgonzola, make sure the mold is not
uniformly distributed. You should look for inoculation lines as well as
where made. Gorgonzola originated in a small town close to Milan called,
obviously, Gorgonzola. Today most of it is produced in the province of
Novara and regions of Piedmont and Lombardy. Try a risotto with
Gorgonzola!
The Cradle of Civilization, Italy (La Culla)
What is it about Italy that keeps us coming back for more?The
attraction of Italy for some of us is at times, something difficult to
grasp. Italy is more than just a wealth of history; Italy vibrates on a
wave all it’s own. The difficulties of everyday life equate to a
constant struggle, which aids in a continual daily evolution be it
personal or collective. Italians tend to be slobs, there is no denying
but in this sloppiness, lies their unique art for living. Italians have
style, they are creative by nature, upholders of tradition and religion
and beneath this lies the foundation of who they are; by genetic design
Italians boast a wealth of humanity for the “other guy.”
Italy
is the world leader in so many venues. Italians have “pizzazz” in
fashion, not even the French can take a notch off of Italy’s belt in
this area. She is a world leader in beautiful cars (Ferrari, Maserati,
Lamborghini, just to note a few), architecture is unparalleled and gastr
onomically,
no one comes close to the variety and simplicity of her kitchen. In
fact, the laws and controls posed on the food industry render Italy’s as
one of the safest in the world.Currently,
Italian bubbles are consumed just in Italy to the tune of 153 million
bottles and she is the number one wine exporter, exporting 10 times as much wine as Australia. Cheese
is abundant in numerous varieties, not just goat cheese done twenty
different ways. Unfortunately, Italy crashes when it comes to marketing its products; just look at the junk wines sold in the states such as,
Fazi Battaglia (great bottle, crap inside). America associates pizza
and the mandolin with Italy and this my friends is truly a crime. Italy
is so profoundly rich and varied in so many products and areas of life.
Italians
live well despite the insurmountable hurdles the government plops in
front of each and every person, entity or free enterprise (well if free
enterprise really exists in t
he
country). The government makes life extremely difficult and to the
tourist eye (a gaze lasting only 10 days for the average tourist) these
difficulties are not conspicuous. Sadly politics are always tacked on to
everything and this aids in the inability to market the riches of this
country.
Here are some
sad but interesting numbers; Italians are taxed approximately 54% of
their income compared to 30% in many other countries and yet, they
manage to not only survive but to do it with decorum and to actually
live as well. Think of it this way; from September through December they
work for themselves, the rest of the time it is for “lo stato.” This
could be accepted if one saw all public services in tiptop form; this
obviously is not the case here. The roads suck, the postal service in
the post offices is an abomination, public transportation stinks and is
overrun with strikes and the taxes paid by the regions in the north, go
to pay for the maintenance and mafia of the south in fact, these regions
only get 8% back from what they send to Rome. Most of the funds given
to the south are used for private gain of a small portion of southerners
leaving the rest of the south still as filthy and behind as ever; a
ball and chain on the north.
Another
huge problem with the lack of progression in this country lies in the
job sector; I bet you did not know one cannot be fired from their job did you?
Once you have your position you can just kick back and get your monthly
paycheck and, job performance as a measure does not exist (obviously).
Sadly this propagates stagnation, crappy customer service and zero
incentive within businesses; why work hard to sell when your job does
not depend on it?
On
top of this, insanely enough, Italy is a police state. Imagine this;
driving around to the supermarket, you see the police or Carabinieri car
on the side, waving cars down. Why? To find some reason to give you a
ticket, to check your “papers.” Can you imagine that happening in the
states? Do Americans realize how lucky and free we truly are? Here you
are really guilty until proven innocent. Sure the police can pull you
over for speeding and such but it seems they never catch the asses
speeding 160mph. Nope, just surprise road blocks to see if they can find
a reason to give you high blood pressure.
Here
is another one to ponder; bars, cafes or restaurants must pay a tax on
the music they play in the locale. A disco must file a plan of the songs
to be played and then dump a mound of royalty fees into the hands of
the SIAE. As you might imagine, the money never goes to the artists. For
example, if they play Michael Jackson they pay for that song and that
money actually may get to him as royalties but if you are a nobody, you
never see the money for the songs played. In fact, this entity has a
huge staff with lots of huge offices (gee go figure). Guess all those
taxes pay for those twits to man that office. Blank CD’s have a portion
of the sale going to this fund as well…cute eh?
Despite
all the negatives of which we are reminded daily thanks to the
newspapers and TV programs, Italy and her people manage to live making
their motto for life that of screwing the government any chance they can
and for us outsiders, this can translate into behavior we dislike or do
not understand. To skirt having to pay dump fees for small household
electronics, you will find these items vicariously placed at auto stops,
or behind supermarkets or along the autostrada and viola now you have a
dirty, unkempt Italy. Deep down they do not wish to be this way but
what choice have you when 54% of your sweat goes to services poorly
provided for and on top of that you get to pay another tax when you use
the service? Hello!
There
is no tax relief for donations either so if I wanted to give new
clothes, I buy them and pay the taxes on them as well as being taxed
because it was part of my income. Unfortunately for this reason, so many
of the old dilapidated villas of Palladian architecture in Veneto near
Vicenza are in a state of crumble. Unless someone purchases the property
and submits a restoration plan for approval, historical relics will
continue to crumble in this amazing cradle of civilization. There is no
feasible way to have historical societies because people have to pay
taxes on the donations twice over. How sad, such a screwed up system.
In
such a small amount of land, Italy has stashed away millions of art
objects for no one to see, she cannot manage them because there is not
enough money and monies, which could be donated to help enlarge and or
support museums, cannot appear due to asinine laws. So here we are
attracted to this vibrant, buzzing yet peaceful world and way of life
despite the mess. Italians uphold the family and many traditions where
as Americans have lost all of this. This frenetic people race through
their days, crowding freeways and holidays believing in their time off
with the family, the wife or girlfriend; they still believe in a future
and sacrifice for these beliefs and this is what gives this place life.
Imagine,
in every square kilometer, which would equate to square half mile
roughly, the US has 3 people to Italy's 62 people per square kilometer.
No wonder I feel claustrophobic here in these apartments and condos
stacked upon each other with zero privacy from one's windows. I
can just imagine how our current layer of history might look 500 years
from now as people excavate finding metros, masses of concrete, a
concentration of life in certain areas, what might be the thoughts of
these people regarding this layer of humanity…similar to ours as we
uncover layers of walls from the Etruscans to Romans and così via?
But
alas, I am here and despite days of complete and utter hair pulling, I
cannot abandon this cradle of civilization; 3000 years of it, way before
civilization came to Great Britain (with all their airs and such). So
when you plan a trip to Italy, try to come and spend some time to really
live it and savor the life vibrating within. This is what makes her so
interesting; close your eyes to the trash, to the shouting matches, to
the dirty streets. She has survived for all these years up to now and
she will keep on surviving because Italy truly is the cradle of what it
takes to live and endure.
June 16, 2009
Peace in Times of Great Unrest
Wishing a peaceful Easter to all....
April, 2009
