"The airport, where we discover that Italians prefer exceptions to rules", this is the subtitle for the first section on the Malpensa airport. He follows this with a telling introduction about being Italian, "Being Italian is a full-time job. We never forget who we are, and we have fun confusing anyone who is looking on. Italy is sexy. It offers instant attention and solace. But don't take Italy at face value. Or, rather, take it at face value if you want to, but don't complain later". It's this kind of subtly informative writing that is concealed with a layer of playful humor that permeates the entire piece, making it a very enjoyable read.
He then goes on to make an important differentiation, telling the reader, "Your Italy and our Italia are not the same thing. Italy is a soft drug peddled in predictable packages, such as hills in the sunset, olive groves, lemon trees, white wine, and raven-haired girls. Italia, on the other hand, is a maze. It's alluring, but complicated. In Italia, you can go round and round in circles for years. Which of course is great fun". It's a differentiation that I would not have thought to recognize prior to read this, but after having done so it makes perfect sense, there really is quite a big difference.
In addition to using playful and humorous language he also employs rich word choice that is constantly tugging at the reader's attention, for example, (try and ignore this passage); "Italy is far from hellish. It's got too much style. Neither is it heaven, of course, because it's too unruly. Let's just say that Italy is an offbeat purgatory, full of proud, tormented souls each of whom is convinced he or she has a hotline to the boss". It's witty, and humorous but it's also very telling about the place and people of Italia.
He continues to make these kind of cleverly concealed insights throughout the piece, another way he does this is through useful comparisons. When discussing the difference between their Malpensa Airport and other countries airports he references the popular movie, The Terminal; "If the film had been set in Malpensa Airport, Tom Hanks wouldn't just have fallen in love with Catherine Zeta-Jones. He'd have founded a political party, promoted a referendum, opened a restaurant, and organized a farmers' market". It's a comparison that you can't help but notice, and understand, even if you've never seen the movie before.
A little further into the piece he finally addresses this notion of "la bella figura", essentially "looking good", he talks about Italians obsessive admiration for all things beautiful is both a strength and a weakness. He playfully talks about how the girls at the cellphone counter, "can't tell a cell phone from a remote control, but all are indisputably attractive", and he says this is because, "People prefers good looks to good answers". He talks about the difference between fight attendants on British airlines versus Air Italia, comparing the Italians to models strutting on a cat walk thousands of miles up in the air, having recently flown on two very different airlines I can tell you there is some definite truth to this statement.
He takes us then through driving and traffic and on to hotels all the while continuing the use of his playful, humorous tone that masks the cleverly concealed insightful information he shares with the reader at the same time. I found the piece to be just as informative as it was entertaining.
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