VISITING THE LESSER KNOWN ITALY – By Philip Petraglia

Italy has a special significance for me as it does for millions of Italians born outside of Italy but only a generation or two removed from the old country. Going back to Italy always brings back certain emotions and expectations. I assume North Americans from other ethnic backgrounds must feel the same way with regard to their respective homelands. But being Italian is a bit special. This sounds chauvinistic, so let me explain. All ethnic identities are special and equally important and valuable. But Italian culture has a certain reputation and aura. We associate it with the Renaissance, Ancient Rome, Opera, and the Godfather trilogy which unfortunately glamorizes a lifestyle that represents only one per cent of Italian society. Be as it may, we take the good with the bad and it’s not such a bad compromise! I guess what I’m saying is that someone with my background will likely have different expectations than a non-Italian when visiting Italy. I first understood this when honeymooning with my wife in Vietnam back in 2000. We kept coming across Vietnamese-Americans. I remember conversing with one elderly gentleman who fled Vietnam with the fall of Saigon. He eventually settled in California where he did quite well for himself and his family. But I could see how moved he was to be back in a country he felt forced to flee. I remember his words: “I lost my country”. He was visiting with his kids and grandkids and I can see he really enjoyed explaining to me his country’s version of Buddhism. This gentleman gave me an understanding of his country that no guidebook could.

My situation is different. I wasn’t forced to flee the mother country. I wasn’t even born there. My parents came in search of a better life. They already had freedom. I’ve been to Italy four times. Like most tourists, I’ve done the “big three”: Rome, Florence, and Venice. We did the same this time around but we added new cities to make it more interesting. As discussed in the previous blog, we spent two weeks in Croatia this past summer. Our last Croatian stop was in Rovinj, a town in Istria with a strong Italian presence. We then went to Trieste, a fairly large city on the Italian side of the Italian/Slovenian border.

Trieste was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire for centuries and only became part of the Italian Republic in 1954. This city is special because of its intriguing architecture and urban layout. It feels more like a Central European city than a Mediterranean one, yet one still feels it belongs in Italy. We arrived the first week of July and there wasn’t a tourist in sight. Unbelievable! The locals are especially interesting. They look more Austrian and Hungarian than Mediterranean, dress with style, and carry themselves in a friendly but reserved manner. It was interesting to watch them go for their small walks at 1.00 in the afternoon while munching on a piece of cake for desert. No gelato here. In fact, there were bakeries everywhere selling apple strudel and other deserts that look more Viennese than Italian. The other culinary phenomenon that stood out was the presence of delicatessens. Hungarian salami seemed to be everywhere, along with Austrian style sausages and sauerkraut. I love pizza and pasta but it was refreshing not to come across yet another pizzeria advertising its incredible Margherita Pizza for a stunning 8 Euros! Rome comes to mind.

I did not come across any museums in Trieste that caught my interest. You won’t find any Uffizi Gallery or Vatican Museum. But the piazzas are incredibly beautiful and spacious and many face the sea. There are public squares everywhere with stunning buildings. The city faces the Adriatic and the nice breeze made the July heat comfortable. Try surviving Florence in July!

Trieste has some fascinating religious institutions. This Adriatic city was known for its tolerance of ethnic and religious minorities, and both the Greek and Serbian Orthodox churches are well worth a visit. Like many port cities, Trieste was a prolific city state that thrived in both trade and tolerance. Capitalism at its best! I asked my wife what she liked about Trieste. She mentioned much of the above, but what really stood out for her was the lady who stopped to give us directions. She recommended a café and even took us there to make sure we didn’t get lost. Sorry dear Romans, but this would not have occurred in Rome!

There are several ways of visiting the lesser known parts of Italy. One way is to visit cities not normally on the tourist route. Another interesting way is to visit cities like Venice in a more discrete way. We only had a one night sleep over in Venice so we made the best of it. We arrived at noon and the city was flooded with hordes of tourists. After all, this was July. No problem. I convinced my wife that we should visit the Jewish Quarter to get away from the noisy crowds. We weren’t disappointed. There were no tourists in sight, and the local Jewish community was busy preparing for a religious ceremony. Unlike the busier parts of the city, this part of Venice was quiet and serene. You could actually here yourself think. I spoke to a few Venetians who seemed happy to see me. Nothing was bought or sold: just a simple conversation between locals and a curious visitor. We then proceeded to do what most tourists do when in Venice: we got lost. I was looking for a cheap bottle of wine and I found it in one of the side streets. The city has lost half its population, but a few locals remain. This remote neighbourhood seemed run down but it felt real. The grocery store local I bought my wine was a local business catering to residents living in the neighbourhood. And I enjoyed hearing the owner speak in his Venetian dialect. We found a medieval church in this same neighbourhood which we explored for a few minutes. It wasn’t majestic like St. Mark’s but we did see a few old ladies praying, minus the camera clicking tourists.

We had trouble sleeping that night. We awoke around 5.30 a.m. and were out in the city by 6.00 a.m. There were few people out except for local workmen preparing their gondolas and businesses for the busy day ahead. We went into a neighbourhood café where Venetians were having their first espresso of the day. But the best part was visiting the fish market around 7 a.m. To hear the local vendors speak to one another in Venetian was a real delight. One could imagine what this market must have been like centuries ago. The absence of tourists allows the imagination to take over.

We finished out trip in Venice by going to the local beach. The boat ride was interesting but so was the walk to the beach from the station. There was a festive atmosphere and the beach itself is full of neighbourhood people enjoying a peaceful day. It’s not the Caribbean but it sure felt good to be away from the hordes of tourists in St. Mark’s Square.

In conclusion, one can’t visit Italy without visiting Rome, Venice, and Florence. But add cities like Trieste to make it more real, and visit the side streets in the more popular cities before gentrification and mass tourism swallows whatever remains of Italy’s great cities.

What We Learned From Travelling in Croatia – By Philip Petraglia

I’ve been fascinated with what the world looks like ever since I was a young kid growing up in the North End of Montreal. People travel for all sorts of reasons as I discussed in my preceding blog. My fascination with travel is no doubt tied to my intellectual curiosity about what other cultures and people are like. Back in high school I excelled in geography, history, and literature. Who better to give you the feel for a place than Charles Dickens or John Steinbeck? We didn’t travel much as a family, but how many families did back in the sixties and early seventies? I have never taken a cruise or gone on those all-inclusive packages to such exotic places as Acapulco! Never had an interest to be served by locals in some walled ghetto designed to serve foreigners. As a very young boy I was even fascinated by what neighbourhoods laid in the west end of town. Fortunately Montreal got its metro just in time for the world’s fair in 1967, so it wasn’t long before I was riding the underground rails in search of adventure and the exotic!

So here we are a few decades later and this curiosity hasn’t abandoned me. My wife and I married in 2000 and we went to Vietnam for our honeymoon. To say this was a trip to another planet would not do it justice. I understood however that not every trip we would take would be as exotic. One can even find something to learn in one’s own country. But this summer we travelled to Croatia and to a lesser extent, Italy. Croatia, you may remember, was involved in a bloody war for independence back in the nineties when it seceded from Yugoslavia. Here then is a summary of our trip and what I learned in my middle age state of curiosity!

We started in Dubrovnik, a small coastal city in the most southern point of the country, not far from Montenegro. Dubrovnik is one of those cities, like Venice, that is enchanting and built on a human scale. There are no canals like in Venice, but like this great Italian city, there is an absence of cars. Dubrovnik is a walled city and cars are not permitted within its walls. This made me think about what the absence of cars does to urban neighbourhoods. There’s something life affirming about putting human beings before these ugly machines. As in Venice, we spent four days hearing people walk, talk, laugh, and just having a good time. Shouldn’t more urban neighbourhoods be the same? I realize that Dubrovnik isn’t New York, but surely big cities can rethink how streets and neighbourhoods are utilized.

Entering the city is like entering a story book. One has to cross the Pile Gate with its drawbridge. It’s what every city should have: An introduction, something that says you’re about to enter a magnificent place. First thing my wife and I noticed was the street itself which seemed to have a gold colour. And the fact that the city is laid out in all its splendour. Dubrovnik is known for its gigantic walls that kept invaders away, particularly the Ottoman Turks and Venetians with whom they fought for dominance over the Adriatic. The Walls can easily be walked and the views of the Adriatic on one side, and the city on the other, are breathtaking. There’s something comfortable about having walls. It means the city has come to an end! No endless sprawl is permitted! But modern cities need not build walls. They can instead put a green belt or have the area around a city zoned as agricultural. The people who designed medieval cities had a sense of boundary which modern urban designers can learn from.

This great jewel of the Adriatic has become, let’s face it, a tourist trap. Half the population is gone, deciding instead to turn their homes into bed and breakfasts. Who can blame them? Croatia is doing badly economically, with a high unemployment rate, especially among the young. But there are spots in Dubrovnik where locals still outnumber the tourists. There are the side streets which require quite a bit of climbing. But there’s also a pier in the back of the town where locals go to converse and just relax. It’s where teenagers go to swim and old ladies dressed in black go to pray. There was an old Croatian lady doing here Rosary Beads. My wife sat next to her and I decided to sit on the floor so as to give her some space. She pointed to the space next to her for me to sit. What more can I say? After two days of watching tourists eat gelato, finally a human encounter worth remembering!

Dubrovnik gets busy, especially in the early mornings and afternoons when the cruise ships come in. Here’s how it works. They unload thousands of tourists who swarm the city like busy locusts looking to buy souvenirs to remind them of their brief stopover. So we decided to visit Lokrum, one of the local islands. It was nothing dramatic, nothing like Capri. But it did have wonderful rocky beaches and leafy parks which provided us with some respite from the June heat. It was a great place to read, swim, and walk. No museums or castles to visit. Not bad for a twenty minute ferry ride. Every city should have this sort of getaway. Getting away from the busy urban environment should not take more than a thirty minute ride whether by boat or public transport.

We spent four nights in Dubrovnik. This allowed us to do a day trip to Montenegro, a small country about an hour’s bus drive away. As a North American travelling in Europe, I’m always fascinated by the fact that short drives take you to different countries that emerged from different cultures. Croatia is Roman Catholic, having been part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Montenegro, in contrast, is Orthodox Christian, and closer to Russian culture than it is to a country that’s only a few miles away. The ride down the coast of Montenegro is surreal. The coast is tranquil and dotted with small islands populated by monasteries and churches built during the Byzantine era. We stopped in several towns, including some real tourist traps where the majority of tourists seemed to be Russians looking for a tan. Montenegro also has a strong Serbian presence as well as various other minority groups, including Albanian Muslims. This adds to the country’s rich culture. The country is unfortunately also known for political corruption and one senses that the Russian Mafia is involved in financing many of the new hotels that stand empty. Like Croatia, Montenegro is economically depressed and uncertain of its future but still worth a trip while it remains affordable.

We returned to Croatia where we explored its extensive coast line. Our bus ride from Dubrovnik to Split took about 5 hours and most of it was along the Adriatic Coast. The scenery was spectacular; right out of a post card. We spent three nights in Croatia’s second largest city. Split is what travelling is all about. Whereas cities like Venice and Dubrovnik have thirty tourists for every local, Split is the complete opposite. But there’s more to Split. There are the narrow streets in the old part of town; a bustling promenade along the seafront; parks, beaches, public markets, and a mountain from where one gets a great view of the city.

My favourite was the local beach. It’s free as all public beaches should be, and it was warm and clean and only a short walk from downtown. There are several bus lines that also serve that area. The beach is called Bacvice and the majority of sun bathers are locals. I have nothing against foreign sunbathers, but I’d rather see them sunbathing in their respective countries. The beach was open to everyone: old and young, poor and rich. I saw no hooliganism or young people drinking or doing drugs.

Split is a port city and here are numerous boat trips one can take to any of the local islands. Ours took us to Hvar Island. This island is quite big but like most tourists we went to Hvar Town, an old medieval town that’s worth a short visit. There are two sides to this town: once is quiet and laid back and includes Croatians, while the other has more of a Club Med feel to it: a true nightmare in every sense of the word!

From Split we travelled to Plitvice Lakes National Park, a bus ride that took about 4 hours. This magnificent park brings together a series of lakes, waterfalls, and cascades. Imagine looking every which way and seeing nothing but waterfalls and lakes. But what really stood out was the peacefulness and respect for the environment. No swimming is permitted which means you don’t hear any screaming. The water in the lakes are crystal clear and full of fish which you can see swimming along the banks. The lake system is divided between the upper and lower part. Because there’s no swimming and because boats are not permitted except for the tiny ferries transporting tourists, all one hears is the sound of falling water, and all one sees is crystal lakes surrounded by lush forests. This brought home to me an understanding of how a country can develop an ecologically sensitive area for tourism while protecting the environment. Imagine if Canadian officials had done the same for Niagara Falls, a beautiful and sensitive area which has become an overrated theme park.

Our last stop in Croatia was in Rovinj, a coastal town in Istria. Rovinj is officially bilingual: Both Croatian and Italian are the official languages. Rovinj no longer has the large Italian population it once had. Many Italians left for Italy at the end of the Second World War. Nevertheless, many of the tourists are from nearby Italy, and most people in the restaurants and cafes seem to speak Italian as well as English and Croatian.

Rovinj is beautiful and romantic and dramatically situated on the Adriatic. It’s a colorful town with lots of sail boats, restaurants and cafes. But let’s face it. Like Dubrivnik and Venice, Rovinj is a major tourist destination. Tourists outnumber the locals. What saved us was the fact we stayed in a small bed and breakfast. The owners lived on the first floor, and our room was on the second. Our apartment even had a balcony in the back. The name of the owner was Pino and though Pino spoke no English, his Italian was flawless. He also liked to drink and he wasn’t shy to share his wine and grappa with me as our respective wives looked on in amusement. I like to ask questions and Pino likes to talk and go down memory lane. This gave me the opportunity of learning what Rovinj was like before it was overrun by tourists. Rovinj has plenty of beaches and lots of dramatic scenery. It’s just unfortunate you have to spend it with thousands of tourists!

Our trip to Rovinj came to an end a few days before Croatia joined the European Union. We hope to go back in a few years and see what changes occur. The country is still in many ways different from the rest of Europe and one wonders whether this will change. Will people, especially the young, still go to church on Sundays? We were amazed at how many young faces could be seen in church. Will widowed old ladies still dress in black and will the food still be as good and as authentically Croatian ten years from now? Will menial jobs, for lack of a better term, still be done by Croatians or will foreigners be imported, as seems to have occurred in Italy?

Croatia is a relatively young democracy but with a high unemployment rate and plenty of political corruption. Will Croatia go down the path of Southern European countries like Spain and Italy, or will it become prosperous like Austria? Croatians seem to have put their war with the Serbs behind them. They even criticize Tudjman’s legacy as much as Milosevic’s. Croatians don’t have a romantic view of their war for independence. Most are happy to have gained it but seem pessimistic about the future. Hopefully this will change without Croatia’s best and brightest forced to move abroad in search of work. In many ways Croatia reminds me of what our society was like in the sixties. For example, when was the last time a waiter in a restaurant in New York or London offered you a free grappa as a token of appreciation for your business? My hope for Croatia is that it become prosperous while holding on to its culture and soul.