Hermanner Volksblatt. [volume] (Hermann, Mo.) 1875-1928, 1920-06-18

2 IS a wise or fortunate trav-
- eler, or both, who, first 40.
venturing forth to enjoyment
of the beauties and riches
Of Italy, approaches her from the sea-
and strides ashore from his ship at
Genoa. That is better than stealing
through Swiss mountains by night. or
working round in a train by the
French Riviera and crossing a frontier
line at ~Ventimiglia, says the Chris
tian Science Monitor.
1t is difficult in the latter circum-
stance to feel that one has changed
from France to Italy; the impression
| grows slowly and is graduated, which
Is always bad for an impression.
Come suddenly upon Genoa from the
| sea (giving a thought as your craft
| steams In to the famous lighthouse
at the entrance to the harbor-it is
400 years old, and of a style suitable
to Italy,, and Genoa strikes you as
a fine, strong representative piece OF
Italy. Genoa, with her glorious past,
is steellng herself sternly now to
modern materialistic demands.
There is no other city in Italy which
combines so many features OF the
country's life, appearance, history,
traditions and sensations as does
Genoa. 1t Is a place of measurelesS
variety and enormous contrasts. There
may be little of Rome about 1t, as you
might say, nor scarcely anything of
! the delicacy, the elegance, the aesthetic
refinement of Florence.
Foremost italian Seaport
But Genoa, this first seaport Of Italy,
is a busy, commercial place, of enor'
nous achievement both before and
during the war, and which up to the
beginning of hostilities was doing Il
trade of over two hundred million
American dollars a year. 1t is a city
of vast aspirations, coupled with a
practical way of working them out.
In busy Genoa you get occasional
reminders of Bologna, Of Verona, and
of the veritable Venice. And, again
you have here some Of the stern
modernity of Milan-plain, manufac'
turing metropolis Of the north, ben
co!dly to the needs of commerce and
trade.
Genoa couples in herself some OF
the romance of the Queen OF the Adri'
attic with the modern commercial
hardheadedness of Milan. Milan In
Italy is what Manchester is to Eng
land; and even in the magnificent
opera house, the Scala, where 81
many of the worlds best singers have
been nursed, there Is the feeling al
ways that here commerce is patroniz-
ing 1t lordly DER the arts.
Flavor Of Old Italy.
You may poke about the myriad lit
tie plnnacles on the roof Of the cathe'
dral. and gaze afar to the w~hite-capped
Alps overlooking the lakes Of won
drous blue, but commerce seems to
tinge almost every contemplation
And this is good for Italy, for Italy
cannot live on art and tradition alone,
But Genoa, next in commerce and
first In the ranks Of Italian ports
while doing its commerce on h grand
scale, has the art and color and flavor
of old Italy as well.
Go down by the harbor, and, not
withstanding the busy hustle n the
certain evidence of the modern world
one would hardly be astonished to see
two gentlemen of old Genoa. attired
In brightly colored silks, with swords
at sides, emerge from one Of the hf'
t~eenth-century doorways which abound
In that quarter. Everywhere there Is
this strong contrast.
A part Of Genoa Is a veritable maze
of old, dark streets In which any per
son without the instinct for getting
his whereabouts may speedily become
lost. Rare old streets they are, too
In the middle of the city there Is
one which is most wonderful, The Via
Luccoli, a thin slit not more than Mint
feet wide and hundreds of feet high
so that just the thinnest strip Of ltal
ian sky can be seen by the stroller al
he lifts his eyes from the show o.
excellent and varied wares in the
shops on either side Of the Via Luccoli
This is Italy; but not far away you
may pace down the Via VENT Set
tembre and observe a strong moder
nifty about the thoroughfare, something
OF the American style about 1t, ant
yet not without It's share Of Italian
elegance. Here are good restaurants
modern In all their appointments, gu
perior shops, a general air of business
and hustle. and-yes, indeed-a place
with soda fountains for the cooling o.
Genoese tongues on a summers day