Hi John, the next morning after the London attacks, Italy raised its threat condition. The Italian military shut down pier areas and now routinely patrol around the clock, including in the early morning hours. If you know anything about the night life in the summer in La Maddalena, you would know the Italians hate to get up before 1000AM. So this was a big sacrifice on their part and demonstrated their concern.
A few nights ago La Maddalena celebrated the Santa Maria festival. It's a four day celebration which culminates in a huge religious procession on the last night. The Piazza was packed! I mean packed with tourists, locals and military folks, patrols were everywhere. When the fireworks kept crackling and popping past 30 minutes, I couldn't help but think this would be a great time for a bomb to go off. Of course, everything ended with a wonderful applause and we all walked home by the moonlight and warm breeze.
I was in Rome a few days ago and security seemed similar to what I had experienced on other trips. Of course the newscasters talk allot about what happened in London and people talk politics endlessly at the local bars. But, the thing you should keep in mind is Muslims stick out like a sore thumb in most Italian towns, "people know their neighbors". So if an event does happen in Italy, I suspect it would take place in a large city like Milan or Rome.
Also, the Italians are still pissed about the allegation that CIA operatives snatched suspected terrorists off the street of Milan. We seem to be largely ignoring the event, but it's getting allot of newsplay here.
Final thought...It's been Tour de France everyday in every bar and cafe' for the past week. And I believe the Italian came in second. Gotta hand it to that Armstrong. He's taken one of the most watched European events of the year and painted American champion across it. |
