A bit of scale difference as well. Italy looks to be not much bigger than Florida:
Posted on 08/16/2018 7:10:47 AM PDT by C19fan
Just a few months ago, I was hurrying to a meeting in Genoa. As I came out of Brin metro station and skirted along the footpath overlooking the Polcevera valley, I was suddenly confronted by the Morandi Bridge.
It wasn't just the scale of the concrete monstrosity – almost a mile long – that shocked me, but the setting.
Chaotic urban development covered every inch of the valley – dozens of railway lines, blocks of flats, an endless tangle of warehouses and roads. It was far removed from what the Italians call 'a misura d'uomo' – shaped for mankind. Instead, it screamed hubris.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Italian drivers are a far bigger danger than bridges!
And to think, we were considering renting a car and driving from Rome to Pompeii.
Thats an easy short beautiful drive. There are parts that are less beautiful. But I would do it again to see Pompeii. One of the most interesting places I have ever been. Pompeii has real ruins others are often rebuilt.
Another reminder that America is the imperfect surrounded by the atrocious.
There’s no need or want to drive in Rome. A good pair of shoes is all you need. Agree about driving in Tuscany, and add Abruzzo, my favorite provinces.
The union bosses undoubtedly get a cut of the profits that should go to the workers’ pensions, but it is not the union who supplies the shoddy materials. That is the contractors’ responsibility.
To me is screams a bloated welfare system where they pay people to do nothing productive and in the process ignore maintenance of infrastructure.
That bridge held together for 50 years and from the looks of it a couple weeks before had not had any maintenance in all of that time.
Any US bridge that had been ignored for 50 years would be dangerous as well.
Worked with a young guy 3 years ago who was doing a rotation here in states from Italy. He said no young person stays there. Corruption, high crime & taxes & no hope for a better life. We talked a lot about his dissapointment in his country. Seems most young Italians are fairly conservative
US probably has many more bridges though,
Italy’s spent their extra money on ‘illegals’... they don’t have cash to keep bridges safe.
We’ve had 9 in the last 5 years too. Bridges collapse, it’s an imperfect world.
A bit of scale difference as well. Italy looks to be not much bigger than Florida:
There used to be border guards on the German-Czech border. We rented a Beemer and they wouldn’t let us drive it into Czech.
But if you had rented a tank, they would.................
[whine] Yeah, but it was all built by slaves...[/whine]
Other than that, what have the Romans ever done for us?
There was a thread here last year, I think, about the lowering of standards in engineering schools so they could attract more gays, minorities etc.
I'm envious, Tuscany and a few other Italian wine regions are on my bucket list.
“Instead, it screamed hubris.”
“Actually it kind of screams corruption and mafia based construction firms “
I would say it screamed, “Aaaaaaahhh *crunch*”
Detroit has real ruins, too, but I have no desire to see them...lol.
One of my favorite places to visit when I was stationed in Germany was Trier, which was about a 30 minute drive from my apartment. I'd sit at one of the open air cafes near the Porta Nigra, sipping a glass of wine, just letting the stress evaporate.
At least one Sunday a month, I went the other direction, driving an hour to Koblenz, where I'd have lunch at the Konigsbacher Brewery. Food was great, bock beer was served year round, and you had a great view of the Rhine River.
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