Those are hilarious comments.
Now, some of you might put me in the same category as these tourists mentioned above when you read what I am about to write...but...bear with me.
At around the age of 25, I was lucky enough to get four months of leave from my job, and I did a massive trip to Europe, travelling with two uni friends, and we just explored Europe by train, with only a rough idea of where we were going next and it was probably the most memorable thing I have ever done in my life.
Some ten years later, I went on a trip to Europe with my wife-to-be, but we only had 9 weeks, so I applied this loose guide to our trip: no churches, no museums, no galleries.
Some people appreciated this (when I told them upon our return), others less so.
I didn't want to rush the 9 weeks, didn't want to stand around looking at what everyone else was looking at, I wanted to do my favourite activity: potter. I just like to potter.
And in the immortal words of the great futurist, Marinetti:
Perché dovremmo guardarci alle spalle, se vogliamo sfondare le misteriose porte dell'impossibile? Il Tempo e lo Spazio morirono ieri. Noi viviamo già nell'assoluto, poiché abbiamo già creata l'eterna velocità onnipresente.
...
Noi vogliamo distruggere i musei, le biblioteche, le accademie d'ogni specie....
Although, I must admit, I don't agree with what follows....actually, maybe I don't agree with any of it.
Would Marinetti have approved of pottering?
I most emphatically don't agree I'm afraid. Art doesn't move you, or architecture? You had no desire to see the places where so many important events not only of Italian history, but world history took place? Your wife didn't mind missing those experiences either?
As for Marinetti and the futurists in general, I have absolutely no sympathy with them. Philistines, and worse than philistines, in my opinion. No surprise to me that he became a fervid supporter and ally of Mussolini. It's all of a piece, in my opinion: the antithesis of humanism.
What kind of man could have written "The Manifesto against past-loving Venice"?
He advocated
"fill(ing) the small, stinking canals with the rubble from the old, collapsing and leprous palaces" to "prepare for the birth of an industrial and militarized Venice, capable of dominating the great Adriatic, a great Italian lake"."
If some people like or even prefer this, fine:
Does it mean this should be destroyed?
So, we agree on this point.
As for exploring the past, I'll repeat a facile, perhaps trite comment: if you don't understand the past you are doomed to repeat it. Plus, for me, history provides such opportunity for inhabiting other realities and for understanding humanity. Just as an example, every time I go to Rome, I make time to visit The Basilica of San Clemente . On top is a 12th century Basilica, next level down is an early 4th century church, one of the first in Rome. The bottom level is a Mithraeum: sixty feet of human history. It's like taking an elevator down both in time and into the inner-springs of the human psyche.
Nothing wrong with "pottering" around, of course. I like that too.
Ed. I should also add that my immediate family doesn't go as far as I do. They usually go with me to my museum or church or historical site of the day for two or three hours and then go back to the hotel to relax or swim or to a piazza to people watch. I prefer it that way to be honest. Their chattering distracts me, and I don't want to be tour guide all the time.
My favorite companions for these kinds of experiences are some of my friends, friends with either training or a deep interest in art, history or music. Of course, part of the reason I enjoy my trips with my friends so much is that they're also stress free. Unlike when I'm with family, I don't have to take care of anyone else. I find it quite relaxing in and of itself.
You know, sort of like an extended "girls' night out".
