Italian Rules

Today the rain seems to have set in but it is only "Albany Rain", a light misty drizzle that our umbrella and rain jackets should be able to contend with. We spent the morning walking along the waterfront, much of which was built during Italy's search for it's classical past after unification in the late 19th Century and under Mussolini in the 1930s so Edward wouldn't recognise a lot of it. They did quite a good job with some fine looking buildings but Messina doesn't appear to be faring well today. It was quiet and run down with little to recommend it as far as I could see.

Another shot of the Duomo demonstrating the paucity of Messina's tourist attractions. 

Reflecting on Covid19, as bad as it might be, when Edward arrived in Messina, locals told him of a cholera outbreak several months earlier when in less than three weeks, we were told, more than a fourth of the entire population of Messina ...fell victims to the dreadful pest, four thousand persons perishing in one day. So far Covid19 doesn't appear to have reached fatality rates anything like that, although I guess only time will tell.

Italians have a pretty casual approach to authority and regulation so it may take them awhile to adjust to Covid19 restrictions. For instance crosswalks which are numerous here, seem to be approached by driver's with the attitude "try not to hit anyone if they're on these white lines, especially if old or infirm, but otherwise proceed as normal". Pedestrians are advised to approach crosswalks tentatively because even L platers with instructors and police cars are not guaranteed to stop. However, just to spice things up and demonstrate the intrinsic Italian good nature, cars will occasionally stop suddenly for you if you appear to be wanting to cross a road, whether on a crosswalk or not. This inevitably sets off a chorus of horn beeps from the cars behind such a driver, whether on a crosswalk or not. Strangely, today I saw a jogger shout angrily at a driver who failed to stop for him on a crosswalk and given that he clearly appeared to be a local, I'm not sure what made this occasion exceptional.

Similarly when I first came to Italy over 40 years ago I was struck by their casual attitude to parking.  Cars would park anywhere they could find space, or even where they couldn't. The Fiat Bambino was clearly made for such an environment.  Cars would be left double parked for hours on end which appeared to be completely acceptable. Nothing has changed today and in Palermo I even saw one expensive Audi SUV that had utilised it's climbing ability to be parked half way up one of the numerous sets of pedestrian stairways, as if preparing for a remake of the Italian Job.

On Edward's visit to Messina heavy rain descending in torrents all day, rendered it impossible to go out so he spent the afternoon and evening in company  with some English officers on their way to the Crimea in a lengthened investigation of the merits of various Sicilian wines. Coincidentally heavy rain kept us in after lunch but we spent the afternoon watching English language satellite TV in our room.

For dinner, inspired by our Sri Lankan adventure last night, we decided to visit a nearby Turkish kebab shop tonight. I'm not sure what Italian liquor licensing laws entail, or even if they have any because almost everywhere sells alcohol. This kebab shop clearly sold the cheapest beer in town because the doorway and few outside tables were packed with locals but none of them were eating kebabs. They were all solely there for the beer and the side wall was stacked high with cartons of stubbies awaiting their turn in the fridge.