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ROME, Italy—Last weekend, I went to the Roman forum with a friend who had just arrived from Paris. It was hot and he was disgruntled. Nothing was labeled in a helpful manner (a few bronze plaques here and there, some in Latin) and it was difficult to distinguish between the various structures. I stood in the sun and read to him from a guidebook, pleading with him to use his imagination...
...appreciate when they visit a place. Tourists often want to know what they are seeing and why it is important in one minute or less—as if to say, “Good, now we’ve done this. Next.” The way the Roman forum is set up does not allow for that. One has to sit or stand, staring and discerning, guidebook in hand, perhaps even imagining things long past. There’s no handholding here...
ROME, Italy — Last week, I was walking to the Fontana di Trevi when a street vendor’s wares caught my eye. No, it wasn’t the Sexy Roman Priests 2010 Calendar (though tempting)—I found myself staring at a different calendar entirely, labeled Il Duce. “This has to be a joke,” I thought to myself. But as I wearily flipped through it, I saw pictures that portrayed a strong Italian leader. The Benito Mussolini of this calendar was no buffoon...
...street vendor; he was a harmless looking middle-aged Pakistani gentleman. “Someone should tell him,” I thought. “Someone should tell him this is not okay.” It’s embarrassing; it should be tucked behind dozens of Roman Holiday calendars. Let’s sell the tourists black-and-white photos of Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck eating gelato, not images of Mussolini inspiring false and dangerous notions of Italian greatness through racism...
...Italy does not need to look for its glory days in its fascist past. It does not even need to look longingly at the Renaissance and the Roman Empire (though, unlike the fascist period, it would do well to take these moments as inspiration). Italy has always been a country marked by the enormous creativity of its citizens. I truly hope young Italians will embrace this aspect of their history and make it central to the nation’s future...