Evening star., 1953-10-25
Notebook
In Which Guest, Newly Returned From ItoIy,
Confirms All You've Heard About That Lund

dens did not prevent him from
studying every passing woman
with the intentness of Raphael
at work.
The Italians are, of course, a
beauty loving people, and very
art-minded. I was slightly taken
aback in Venice when I offered
Venetian gentleman an Amer
lean cigarette and heard him ask
obviously. "Is it an original?"
They know and treasure their
magnificent art. their greatest
pride and now their only wealth.
In the Uffizi Gallery in Florence
asked a guard if Albertinelli,
whose Visitation" I was seeing
for the first time, was a Floren-
tine. I did not really think he
would know, as I do not believe
guards are expected to know
what they are guarding, but
thought he might refer me to
some one. Instead got a stream
of impassioned Italian, the giSt
of which seemed to be that any,
body who said Albertinelli was
not a Florentine would have him
to fight.
Lo Bella Linouo
Another thing you discover is
that good-natured though they
are, the Italians will not have
you trif1ing with their beautiful
language. The loWliest street.
sweeper pushing his broom of
fagotS across an ancient square
will severely correct your pro-
nunciation, and not until you say
it right will you hear that little
shower of "eccos" and "ahs,"
which means you are about to be
told the way.
In their exuberance, Italians
will sometimes give you more di-
rections than you really need.
One day in Florence I asked a
lady at a streetcar stop how to
get to the Ponte Vecchio. She
sketched out the route number
on the palm of her hand, also
the fare. Then, very pleased with
herself, she added, "Feriale." I
looked blank, and another lady
at the stop Joined us, saying en-
phatically, "Feriale." A man
passing by chimed in, "Feriale!"
Then they all said it together,
being under the impression, as
Americans are said to be, that if
you shout loud enough people
will understand. I held up my
hand for a moment; fished out
my dictionary and Scrabbled
through the pages while all
three, having fallen back a few
steps, watched me f1ercely. It
turned out that "feriale" means
weekday. Since it was Wednes-
day anyway, I thought this
slightly superf1uous. When it
came time for my stop, somehow
every one seemed to know it, and
there was a great hue and cry
of "Ecco, Signorina." while was
gently pushed out.
Spik EngIeesh?
Certain Italians give you to
understand that they understand
English, but I question it. One
day in Rome I returned to my
hotel to find the hall porter and
his assistant in the state of high
est excitement.
"Ecco. Signorina, the plane
has went to New York and left
you here" cried the hall porter
"Yes," said his assistant. fairly
dancing with glee, "it is gone
without you."
Since I was not scheduled to
go that day, I thought this un-
likely, and after we got it sorted
out. it developed that the airline
had called merely to confirm the
reservation. I had to admit, how
ever, that their version was
much more interesting.
In one respect, I was afraid
the Italians were going to let me
down. I had been led to believe
they were singing people. but I
had heard nobody going through
the streets singing arias, as ad-
DECnDTC