Travel Miscellany

Back from two weeks in France and Italy, and not yet quite coherent, here are misc. reflections--

 #1  Angus Taylor (Aeolus) wrote some great stuff here in my absence (thank you!).  No, I didn't change my mind about various and sundry--it's been him writing since June 4.  (It seems as though this created confusion for a few people--a little birdie tells me.)

Over a delicious pizza in Siena we pondered what he wrote about "unnatural" food.  I don't think it's a simple matter of "natural vs. artificial," but I do think it makes good aesthetic sense to prefer a fresh Tuscan tomato to a can of Campbell's tomato soup.  Super-processed food doesn't taste as good (to me, anyway), but sheer taste is just part of it.  The way we experience food also has to do with everything we believe about where it came from, how it was produced, etc.

When I'm less jet-lagged I'm going to respond to his post about my book.

The picture was taken at the fruit and vegetable market in Venice.

#2 Last semester when I taught environmental ethics there was much discussion of whether and how we can reduce our ecological footprints.  The French and Italians already do many of the things we're supposed to do.   They drive smaller cars, use much less air conditioning, live in smaller homes, eat less, use more public transportation, etc.  I don't think they necessarily mean to be more green, but rather--for cultural and historical reasons--they simply are more green. Why can't we be more European?

That's Roman laundry.

#3  What's the point of traveling?  I'd like to say it was for expanding our horizons, learning about other ways of life, visiting friends, etc. etc., but the truth is that it's all that, but also just for the fun of gawking ... at great art, architecture, landscapes, etc. Alain de Botton must say some perceptive stuff about these things in his book about travel.

I can't believe how beautiful Venice is. A little Disneylandish?  I don't care.

 

 
#4  Is there a lower moment in human history than the gladiator fights put on at the Roman Coliseum?  It's one thing to subject others to death and total misery, but to enjoy yourself completely while doing so is especially appalling. It turns out the Romans (50,000 at a time) not only feasted while watching men and animals kill each other, but they liked to be sprinkled with flower petals and sprayed with perfume. The women brought needlework with them and the men took a little time out for letter-writing.  What great engineers they were, but what miscreants.

Picture was taken you know where.

#5  I shouldn't have taken this picture, I know, but I was surprised to discover that there are culturally specific ways of begging.  Italian beggars create tableaux straight out of religious art.  The homeless in the US (we don't even use the word "beggar") would never try this.

A "beggar" in Venice (yes, we paid for the sin of photographing her by giving her money).

#6  Our kids were very keen to see "famous stuff."  The funny thing about famous stuff is that it's impossible to see it just as is, instead of seeing it as famous.  There's a thrill of recognition that's an inextricable part of the experience.

Plato and Aristotle detail from The School of Athens (at the Vatican).