Bella Italia

Italy was beautiful, even when images of a time when life wasn't so perfect were juxtaposed with the beauty. We went into some little village in Chianti and this bullet-ridden, fading sign had survived. The fact that it hadn't been painted over speaks, I believe, to a quiet belief among many Italians that "Il Duce" wasn't really such a bad guy after all. By the time Hitler became the Fuehrer of Germany, Mussolini had been running the show in Italy for ten years. He improved the Italian economy, thus bringing some stability to the country. It was said that "He made the trains run on time" (by shooting someone if they didn't). Nice. If ever you have some time, read a little about the Italians and WW II.