Global Life: A Tribute to Art

The palace built by Duke Federico da Montefeltro, top gun of the Renaissance, is the thinking man's Disneyland

Before we praise one the of the great Italian man-made wonders, let us wonder over the greatness of Italian Man, specifically the Italian man behind the car-rental desk at Bologna airport. While it's true he lost my reservation, had no cars left and appeared close to violence when I hinted that this was something of an inconvenience, eventually, after some sparkling conversation with my beautiful, Italian-speaking wife, he remembered that, yes, he did have one last vehicle, a 12-seat Mercedes van. This he handed over magnanimously and insisted that we visit his favorite wine bar, not 10 minutes from the airport....

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