Italia: Summary
So what of Italy?
I like the Italian lifestyle. They work to live. The grocery store is open from 9:00 to 1:00 and 4:00 to 8:00. No rush. No fuss.
I like the Italian transportation system. Good airports, good trains, good roads and, in Venice, good water buses. You can get around in Italy easily.
I like the Italian people. Considerate and polite to one another. They have a sense of humor and fun. Again, they work to live.
I like the Italian countryside. Beautiful and clean and colorful. No double wides, here. No junk piles. No collections of old cars.
I dislike most Italian hotels. The accommodations are fine but the staff is generally rude and crude to guests.
I am ambivalent to most Italian tourist areas. The only one that surpassed my expectations was Pompeii. All the others I found were better in my imagination. As for the art, it begins for me after the photographic camera was invented in the 1800's and Italian art had pretty much fizzled out by then. And, further, just how many versions of "Madonna and Child" do you really need? As for the cathedrals, well, when you have seen one you have pretty much seen them all.
Finally, I despise the Vatican even more now that I've experienced it in person. The Holy See is totally out of touch with reality.
So, would I go to Italia again? To Tuscany, yes, in a heartbeat. I'd love to spend a spring or fall there.
As for the rest of Italy, I've had enough of it.
Ciao.
I like the Italian lifestyle. They work to live. The grocery store is open from 9:00 to 1:00 and 4:00 to 8:00. No rush. No fuss.
I like the Italian transportation system. Good airports, good trains, good roads and, in Venice, good water buses. You can get around in Italy easily.
I like the Italian people. Considerate and polite to one another. They have a sense of humor and fun. Again, they work to live.
I like the Italian countryside. Beautiful and clean and colorful. No double wides, here. No junk piles. No collections of old cars.
I dislike most Italian hotels. The accommodations are fine but the staff is generally rude and crude to guests.
I am ambivalent to most Italian tourist areas. The only one that surpassed my expectations was Pompeii. All the others I found were better in my imagination. As for the art, it begins for me after the photographic camera was invented in the 1800's and Italian art had pretty much fizzled out by then. And, further, just how many versions of "Madonna and Child" do you really need? As for the cathedrals, well, when you have seen one you have pretty much seen them all.
Finally, I despise the Vatican even more now that I've experienced it in person. The Holy See is totally out of touch with reality.
So, would I go to Italia again? To Tuscany, yes, in a heartbeat. I'd love to spend a spring or fall there.
As for the rest of Italy, I've had enough of it.
Ciao.
Mostly I agree with you about Italy, although I cannot get enough of Roma with its cheap wine and vast blocks of antiquity. I will never go back to the Vatican again except to ponder the unconscienable acquisitions displayed apparently without remorse in its mind-boggling museum. We prefer France to Italy, actually, for many of the same reasons you enjoyed Italy.
ReplyDeleteWe live not too far from you (on Saddle Mountain) where we hunt rather than play golf.