North or South?
Salambo escaped to Naples for a two-day breathing break. While on the train, she wondered about the North-South border of Italy. It is well known that Italy as a country is divided into two distinct parts: the working North and the sunny South. They do not like nor understand each other, to the point that the Northern “separatist” movement is gaining followers. What is less clear though is where the North and South start. Ask a Milanese about it, and the border will definitely be south of Florence, with the southern Tuscan border providing the dividing line. But going from Rome to Naples, one has a strong feel that a border is being crossed. Compared to Naples, Rome feels more controlled, sedate, in other words, more northern. So Salambo asked a few Roman friends about it, true Romans, native of the city. Their answer was quite clear: Rome is the centre of Italy, neither North, nor South. It has always been at the centre of the country, from the antique Roman times and the Renaissance Papal States all the way to the administrative capital of Italy today….through the different worlds, always in the centre.
