Erin Miller

Ciao,
Here is your weekly update from Perugia. The train strike did happen and
travel came to a complete halt all over Italy. Teachers cut their classes
short in order to get back to their homes in Florence etc. before the strike
began. Friday felt like a holiday. The labor unions had planned a 24 hour
strike, and seemingly held one, but the government maintained before and
during the strike that it would only last 8 hours. So, the trains were on
strike from 9pm Thursday to 9pm Friday, but the government still maintains
that the strike went only from 9am to 5pm Friday. It’s a cute system. The
government guarantees certain routes (Rome to Florence etc) even during a
strike, but it only maintains those routes during the 8 hour period of the 24
hour strike that it recognized. I was finally able to determine the reason for
the strike. Apparently, some months ago, two trains collided near Milan on a
one track transfer. The trains hit head on, as they were traveling different
directions on the same track. The train operators took this collision as a
sign of poor government oversight. They stroked in an attempt to negotiate for
greater oversight in order to guarantee the safety of themselves and their
passengers, and accordingly, asked for the public’s cooperation and
understanding. Sounds like a noble cause, especially considering our
National Hockey League is striking for an entire season in order to not have a
limit put on their multi-million dollar salaries.
Last weekend I traveled to Pisa and Lucca. In Pisa, someone built this medium
height, though very heavy tower, on ground that wasn’t stable and now the
tower leans over to the right (or left, if you come from the other direction).
They have done some construction to stabilize the tower. They did not,
however, fix it and put it upright, just stabilized it’s lean to the right. The
only reason that anyone ever goes to Pisa is to see this leaning tower and a
straight tower would have ruined the tourism industry in the city. Due to this
newfound stability, for the low price of 15 Euro, one may climb to the top of
this tower that still appears as if it might fall over. 15 Euro is enough for
a very nice 3-course dinner, so we declined the opportunity to climb the
tower. We were talking to some Australians on the way out of Pisa and the
Australian man said, “15 Euro, that’s like 40 Australian dollars, they can
take that 15 Euro and shove it up their arse.” But, if you’re a wealthy
European and enjoy climbing towers that lean to the right (or left) then Pisa
is the place for you.
We stopped by Lucca on the way back to town. I rented a cruiser bike (with a
bell) and rode several times around the city’s fully intact walls, which have
been made into a city park. It was a very pleasant little Italian town,
surrounded by green hills. On my way back to the train station, I saw 4 small
parades, each with 2-4 drummers and people dressed up in various outfits. I
never really understood the reason behind these parades, but it was clear that
the people in Lucca had a lot to celebrate.
Happy Giorno di San Valentino!
(the Italians never really enjoy hearing that the holiday was in fact adopted
from Roman paganism and was a festival in which highly powerful political men
were able to get inebriated and run around in the nude.)