The Padova Chronicles

Visiting the Veneto: Monselice, Este and Montagnana

Having covered Venice and Verona, the two biggest tourist draws in the Veneto, and the larger towns that are centers of business, industry, and home to a decent portion of people in the Veneto, it's time to move on to some of my favorite places: the smaller towns that aren't the target of so many tourists.

Monselice

Like many of the towns near the Colli Euganei, Monselice has been inhabited in some form since prehistoric times. The reason is obvious: the hill that it lies below is a formidable defense against invaders.

During the middle ages, Monselice briefly surpassed Padova as the most important town in the area, as Padova suffered a great deal from the collapse of the Roman empire.

Unfortunately, it's not possible to visit the ruins of the castle at the top of the hill very often, but it's occasionally open. In any case, the walk up to the "sette chiese" (seven churches) is worthwhile, and at the top provides beautiful views of the surrounding plains on a nice day. If you're lucky, you may even find that the stars have aligned and that the trail to the top of the hill and its castle is open. The Castello Cini is a well-preserved castle a bit further down the hill, which is interesting not only for the architecture, but also because of the collection of medieval weapons and other artifacts. Between the Colli Euganei in the distance, the Rocca hill, and various bits and pieces of architecture that have been well preserved, a walk around Monselice is pleasant, and picturesque. I also like it because it's a "real" town with "real" businesses that cater to the locals and people from the surrounding area. This makes it busy on weekdays, but authentic - you don't have to fight crowds of tourists.

Perhaps that's changing, as the town starts to realize that it could do more with what they have in terms of tourism. There is now a "Palio" (no horse racing though) in September with lots of food, wine, and medieval crafts and pageantry.

Near Monselice (on the other side of Monte Ricco) is the small hill town of Arqua` Petrarca, which as its name suggests, is famous for being the final resting place of the poet Petrarch. Arqua is small - there isn't a great deal to see - but it's a nice place to spend a few hours in the afternoon before eating at one of the many trattorie.

Este

Este, like Monselice, has been inhabited since time immemorial. Its extensive history is readily available to visitors in the museum, which covers everything from the bronze age up through Roman times and beyond, in great detail in some cases. The large collection is pretty amazing for what isn't a very large town, and attests to the fact that it was more important in the past, especially when the Adige river went by the town, rather than its modern course, which is several kilometers to the south. Those familiar with European history will also recognize in "Este" the name of a very old and important noble family in Europe. Este also has a castle, with a grounds that has been turned into a park: a great place to take a stroll with a gelato from the gelateria across the street from the castle! Byron and Shelley spent a year in Villa Kunkler, a villa behind the castle. If you have a car (Este is not on major train lines), Este might be a nice place to stay yourself if you want to explore the area in an unhurried way.

Unbeknown to most tourists, there's a tiny town on top of the hill above Este, called Calaone. There isn't much there, but on a hot summer day, it might be a way to catch a breeze at the top of the hill, and enjoy the view.

Being off the main lines of transportation, Este is, like Monselice, more of a "by the locals, for the locals" sort of place. It gets a few tourists coming through, but not the hordes you must do battle with to navigate around the main attractions of a place like Venice.

Montagnana

The last outpost of the province of Padova, Montagnana was build for precisely that reason: it was fortified and strengthened when Padova was a city state, in order to act as a bastion against the Scaligeri of Verona. To me, it's impressive that in 2008, the borders of the Padova and Verona provinces still reflect this ancient rivalry: Montagnana apparently performed its fortress duties well. When Venice conquered the whole region, the town ceased to be useful in that function, and has since meandered through history as one of the larger small towns in the rural heart of the Po' river valley east of Mantova (Mantua). Luckily, its relative stasis also led to the preservation of the medieval city walls, which have since been restored to their full glory. Montagnana is worth an afternoon, but for my tastes is a bit too far away from the Colli Euganei, so if you're going to stay in the area, I would opt for Este or Monselice, which are also easier to get to, and have more things to see in the immediate area. Near Montagnana is one of Palladio's villas, Villa Pisani

Within the Veneto, Montagnana is also famous for its prosciutto - be sure to have some if you go there. The best time to have some might be during the "Festa del Prosciutto", a big (busy) event that draws a lot of visitors from the surrounding area. The event usually takes place in mid-May, which is, with September, one of the best months for visiting Italy. It's not too hot yet, the fields of poppies are in full bloom (and they are beautiful), and everything is green.

Alitalia: Another Day, Another Deadline

There's still no deal, no collapse, nothing certain, but since one more union signed up to the deal offered by the "courageous entrepreneurs" of CAI, Alitalia is still flying, despite having had Thursday as a "deadline". There are a few more unions still holding out: pilots, flight assistants and a few others. The new deadline is for Friday. At this point, I wouldn't put much faith in "deadlines" or "rules" or "laws" regarding Alitalia. If they're uncomfortable, it's best to simply sweep them aside or otherwise ignore them.

Air France was reported to be interested in buying up a 10-20% stake in the new company (CAI). The position of the foreign airlines that keep sniffing around is clearer: Lufthansa and Air France are being played off one another. Both of them would probably rather that Alitalia fails, and they get to buy up slots, airplanes, workers, and so on, in an open, transparent process. However, if the deal comes together, and there's no room to rush in and buy up stuff on the cheap, there's still probably money to be made, and neither airline wants to be the one left out, so neither one really wants to jump in 100%, and keep the thing alive when it would be better off dead, nor back away completely, giving up any chance were the deal to go through.

Something being talked about a lot these days is the "national pride" of having an Italian airline owned by Italians. This sort of attitude might have flown in the 1930ies, when airplanes were a big deal, but in 2008, in case no one had let the "national pride" crowd know, having some airplanes with an Italian flag on them is no longer really anything to brag about. Here is a list of "flag carriers" from wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_carrier. Kyrgyzstan, Mozambique, and even failing Zimbabwe have national airlines. Who cares? Italy has plenty to be proud of, where it's either unique in the world (its history, its art), or for genuine accomplishments on the cutting edge. Ferrari immediately comes to mind, as do authors, artists, actors, scientists... people who accomplish novel and innovative things. Food, something everyone is proud of in Italy is something that's been exported worldwide. Italy acquitted itself well at the recent Olympics, in terms of sports. All things to be proud of, and perhaps even spend some government money to accomplish. But in terms of airplanes, the important thing is for people to be able to fly to, from, and within the Italian peninsula and islands, not that the guy getting rich from the operation happens to have been born in the same country.

On Friday, we ought to know the results of the negotiations between the pilots and CAI. Were that to work out, the deal will probably go through, and Berlusconi's smiling mug will be all over the TV networks (many of which he either owns or controls) explaining how he valiantly saved Alitalia. What people in Italy won't hear on his TV networks is how much of their money he threw away to accomplish this. And nothing will have changed. The deal will be neither the first, nor the last to see everything stitched up so that the entrepreneurs get richer without risking much, those in cushy jobs keep them, the Italian taxpayer's money goes down the drain, the rule of law is ignored, and what should fade away to be replaced by something stronger, cheaper, faster and better never does.

Alitalia: The Fat Lady Still Hasn't Sung?

Well, if not her, Berlusconi is still talking up a storm. The latest "deadline" is supposed to be tomorrow, Thursday, after which Alitalia will stop flying. Of course, these "deadlines" don't have much credibility, but sooner or later there will be a real one, and this one looks to have some force behind it. As a consequence, negotiations are still going on, with Berlusconi himself quite involved in trying to cut a deal. The latest:

• Berlusconi insists that Italy will and must have a national airline. Much as fish need bicycles, in my opinion, but to each his own... except Berlusconi, who gets some of yours, too. In any case, he doesn't want to "talk publicly" yet, in order to keep negotiations going. He might be up to something, or his "not ready to reveal" could be like the "group of entrepreneurs" that he more or less invented during the election, only to finally twist enough arms to create the group once he'd won the election. Berlusconi continues to reaffirm that the company must remain Italian, and is willing to spend a lot of other people's money in order to make it so. Actually, he didn't say the second part, but it's pretty much a given at this point.

• Lufthansa, which had said "we'll pass", is apparently still interested, but with the condition that there isn't some kind of open war between the unions and the new company. Foreign airlines have got to be a bit nervous about this whole business: the best result for them would be for the whole enterprise to fail, and thus be able to buy up airport slots, airplanes, and hire up any people worth hiring on a case-by-case basis. Still though, they're probably still sniffing around, because were the whole thing to actually come together, the "new Alitalia" will need an international partner, and there's likely some money to be made there.

• In order to show that the left is just as clueless as Berlusconi, their leader Walter Veltroni sent an open letter with three ideas for what direction things ought to take:

  1. CAI, the "new Alitalia", should move closer to meeting the unions' demands.
  2. The government should actively seek out foreign firms, with or without the "new Alitalia", interested in purchasing the company.
  3. The government should conclude negotiations with the union in order to make it possible for CAI or a foreign company to buy Alitalia and thus allow it to survive in some form.

I guess they wanted to show that they were capable of "leadership" too, where leadership is defined as "willing to throw lots of other people's money at a problem that isn't really that much of a problem in the first place". What they ought to be doing is to make sure that those who lose their jobs, and their families, are in some way taken care of, retrained if necessary, and otherwise helped through a tough time, rather than trying to keep Alitalia lurching along like some kind of Frankenstein monster. And while they're at it, they should try and even out those rules so that anyone who loses their job, whether they work for a big company or a little one, gets the same treatment.

Winemaking School

Despite its problems, there are still a lot of things that Italy gets right. One of them is the attitude towards alcohol. Put simply, it's not such a "Big Deal" like it is in the US. It's a normal part of life, rather than the forbidden fruit it has turned into for those under the age of 21 in the US. Binge drinking is uncommon, and the idea of drinking so much that you throw up or pass out is viewed with the proper revulsion rather than some sort of badge of honor. It's normal to have a glass of wine with lunch and dinner, and when out with friends it happens that you might drink too much, but it's not seen as something to be pursued as an end unto itself. There is no real drinking age in Italy (if there's one on the books, it's ignored), and of course anyone can buy alcohol in supermarkets. The end result is that there is probably less problematic underage drinking in Italy than in the US.

My mother in law works at a local "high school". Italy actually has different categories of high school, ranging from the liceo classico, where latin and greek are still studied, to more practically oriented institutions, like where she works, which is best described as an agricultural school. A short drive outside the center of Padova, the school really does provide hands on experience: they have their own fields, orchards, greenhouses, and even chickens, pigs and cows. What really makes me smile though, is that they have a fully functional wine cellar, where the high school students are involved in each step of the wine making process. They get the grapes from the Colli Euganei, and learn about the necessary procedures to turn grapes into good wine. And truth be told, the wine isn't half bad: it's sold to the public in limited quantities, along with other fresh fruit and produce from the school. I've visited the school a few times, and I'm always struck by the contrast between seeing students working diligently in the wine cellar, and the fuss and consternation that would come from having *high school students* work around *alcohol* in the US. Oh, and yes, the students do taste the wine. They need to understand what good wine is in order to produce it!

Alitalia Endgame: Odds and Ends

Today's Alitalia news:

As mentioned yesterday, Alitalia has finally gone ahead and started trying to sell off the good bits in something akin to an auction, something that should have happened a long time ago. At this point, it's going to be pretty dicey to put much together, as the deadline is the 30th of September, and with world financial markets in turmoil, many investors may be a bit wary of getting involved with anything having to do with Alitalia. "3-4" days of flying left before the airline is grounded is one number being bandied about, but none of the deadlines set so far has come and gone with any real changes in operations, so I'd take it with a grain of salt.

According to the Corriere della Sera newspaper, some of Alitalia's assets have been seized in Israel, in order to pay for debts the company owes local airports.

Berlusconi continues to rant and rave about the unions ruining his deal, and while he's probably right in terms of the proximate cause for the negotiations' collapse, it's sort of like the camel herder shaking his fist at the straw that broke the camel's back: there is a lot that went wrong over the years, including Berlusconi's making a mess of the Air France deal, which was far better from a financial point of view, for the Italian taxpayers.

Another development is that some of the Alitalia personnel want to put their own money towards buying up the company, which is certainly more courageous than the entrepreneurs, but just as likely to end up badly, as hard choices that need to be made will be that much more difficult if the pilots and other staff have any kind of veto.

Meanwhile, Fiumicino airport sounds like it's a madhouse, with opposing groups of employees demonstrating: the "si`" group who wants a deal, and the "no" group who don't, being kept apart by the police.

Alitalia: For Sale, Cheap?

Unless something happens behind the scenes with negotiations between the unions and the "good company" CAI (the "courageous" entrepreneurs who kindly offered to buy all of the good bits of Alitalia), it looks like the "good company" has been ditched at the altar.

With less than a week to go, Alitalia is going up for sale, according to news reports, although as of this writing, the announcement that is supposed to have gone up on the web site isn't there yet. Berlusconi, in a true spirit of an open, competitive market, said yesterday that CAI is the "only alternative". That's probably true at this point, given how the whole deal was carved up for their exclusive consumption, rather than simply putting Alitalia's assets up for auction in an attempt to recoup as much money as possible for their creditors, which include the Italian taxpayers. Perhaps that will finally happen once the airplanes are no longer allowed to fly, but until then, and perhaps even afterwards, we're going to be seeing a series of "really, truly, finally, this-time-we-mean-it, last-ditch, hail mary" attempts to stitch things together between CAI and the unions.

One ray of light in this dark mess is that the government will not nationalize the airline, which would have continued the farce indefinitely.

What still isn't clear from what I've read is what the unions hope to gain by telling off CAI. They certainly made those of us who want to see the whole thing implode happy, but given that their careers are on the line, that seems like slim pickings. Some of them may have hoped for nationalization, but that's apparently completely off the table (although I would never say never with Alitalia). There's talk of another airline like Lufthansa or Air France getting involved, but I can't imagine they'd want to deal with the stinking carcass of Alitalia; better to wait until it's really, truly dead, with a silver stake through its heart, and buy up the good bits piece by piece, and hire up people they need one by one.

Alitalia: the other shoe drops?

The group of investors who were ready to sweep up all the good, productive, moneymaking parts of Alitalia (being a businessman with government connections in Italy is sure a tough job) appear to have withdrawn their offer after they failed to come to an agreement with unions:

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/BUSINESS/09/18/alitalia.financial.trouble/index.html

The latest, in Italian, from the Corriere della Sera.

Like the monster in some horror movie, though, it seems that Alitalia always manages to claw its way back in action. Wounded gravely, it staggers inexorably towards the heroine - can anyone stop it?

Of course, amongst everyone involved, the blame game has started: Berlusconi says it's all the union's fault, the unions say that it's the politicians' fault, and so on. I'm not sure exactly what game the unions are playing, as they are facing unemployment in short order, so a reduced salary would have been better than nothing. I suppose they thought it was worth it to sink what was such a bad deal for everyone but the wealthy groups who were being offered the nicest bits of Alitalia without having to deal with the garbage. In any case, it's quite two-faced of Berlusconi to talk about playing politics with the company's fate, when that is precisely what he did to help sink the Air France offer.

I'm cautiously optimistic that this time, events may have finally conspired to hole Alitalia below the waterline. Unfortunately, this will still lead to taxpayer debts, but after the Air France offer was withdrawn, that was pretty much a given. Hopefully at this point, the good bits of the company will be auctioned off to pay Alitalia's creditors, and the whole thing will finally be laid to rest, opening up the Italian aviation market for fitter, healthier, more productive and less strike-prone companies to jump in.

The Spritz: from Austria to Venice, and back

As I've written in the past (spritz), going to the piazza for a "spritz" is one of my favorite ways to spend a hour with friends in the evening.

The history behind the spritz is interesting too: after the Napoleonic wars, the Austrians gained control of much of the Veneto. Being a hotter clime than they were accustomed to, and being more of a wine-drinking region rather than a beer-drinking one like much of Austria, the soldiers stationed there needed something to drink that wasn't too alcoholic, because they needed to drink lots to quench their thirst. Their drink of choice was apparently a forerunner of the "wine spritzer" - white wine mixed with water. Both English and German use the word "spritzer" for fizzy water and wine, and of course is not at all specific to the Veneto. The key ingredient in the version native to the Veneto is Aperol or Campari, which give the drink its distinctive color and taste.

I'm not the only one who likes to drink a spritz now and then, and it has been slowly spreading in popularity in Italy, or at least northern Italy. Interestingly enough, it seems to have finally made it over the border back into Innsbruck, Austria, where we live. When we moved there a year ago, no one had heard of it, although they did know what it was just over the border in Vipiteno/Sterzing, where it goes by the name of "venetian spritz" or simply "venetian" amongst the German speaking inhabitants who don't call it simply a "spritz", because they've had "spritzer" all along. However, earlier this year, we started seeing "venetian spritzes" in Innsbruck, as well as a big, poster style ad for Aperol touting the spritz as a fashionable Italian drink. It's funny to think how long it's taken, but the "spritz" has come full circle, from Austria, to Italy and back.

Alitalia: Chicken, or Wile E. Coyote?

Monday, supposedly the day when flights would start being canceled has come and gone. It's now Tuesday evening, and things still appear to be running. Negotiations with the unions are still going on, even though they appear to not be going well. The situation is likely to be one of these, but only time will tell which:

• Chicken. Knowing that time is running out, both the unions, the government, and management are all playing the game of "chicken", seeing who blinks first. Without staff, the airplanes and airport slots are no good, and without a place to work, being a pilot or airport worker isn't that great a position to be in either. In this version of things, someone will blink, and a deal will be reached "just in the nick of time", and everyone will celebrate screwing the Italian taxpayers once again, with some of the denser fans of Berlusconi thinking he's actually done something good for the country.

• Wile E. Coyote. Remember the cartoons where the coyote, chasing the road runner, would run off a cliff, stop, look around, look down for a moment, realize he was on thin air, and only then plummet to the ground? The risk is that Alitalia, like the coyote, will somehow claw its way out of the crater it makes in the ground, and continue to be a drag on Italian aviation. It would be worth it to see the coyote look on Berlusconi's face, but I fear that the "chicken" scenario is more likely.