DAY 164 - TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA

3 October, 2011

San Bonifacio to Verona

15.5 miles (Total: 1628.3 miles) 31,000 steps (Total: 3,549, 201 steps)

I had been told how beautiful a city Verona was—the setting for two of Shakespeare’s plays. I hadn’t anticipated that before you arrive at the undoubted splendours of Piazzas’ Bra, Erbe and Dei Signori, there were some slightly less historic and salubrious suburbs to walk through. Passing by a florists shop (pic.) with a heart outside I can’t resist the temptation to take a corny picture of me as ‘Romeo’ for my ‘Juliet’.

It was then that I noticed three gentlemen looking closely at me, or more precisely my digital camera on the other side of the road. One stayed on the other side road looking both ways and two men approached me; one engaging me in conversation first in Italian and then switched to perfect English, whilst the other stood slightly to my side not saying anything but puffing occasionally on a cigarette. The first gentlemen asked where I was from, I said “England”, with a smile (privately I was thinking what an idiot I was to have got my expensive camera out in such a neighbourhood).  I then made my way to the doorway of a bar a few steps in front of me, thinking how I might be able to extract the SD card with my pictures on before it was taken – as I was fairly sure it would be. My options were limited—I couldn’t out run them, especially with a 30 pound backpack, and I wasn’t going to resist them, so I thought simply how can I make the situation slightly more awkward for them and slightly safer for me.  The answer came with an inspired second question from the gentlemen as I moved with them towards the bar door, “what are you doing here?”

This was my opportunity and I launched straight into my story of how I was walking from Olympia, Greece to London, England to promote the Olympic truce and then explained about the original purpose of the Games being to promote peace.  After I had finished, the speaking gentlemen simply said “wow, that’s amazing.”  I then heard myself offering to buy the two a drink—they asked for a ‘campari and soda” and something in my Tyneside upbringing made me think–campari and soda! they can’t be that hard!  I then ruined the macho moment by following up with “and I’ll have a Diet Coke”, recovering my poise I quickly added “but, no ice or straw”. We then had a fascinating talk for about twenty minutes about my walk and their lives here—they had been unemployed for three years—and their families and how they hoped one day to make it to London.

I then placed my empty glass firmly on the bar and said, “Well I have to find a place to stay in town so I have to go. It has been great meeting you.” I put out my hand and the speaking gentleman immediately shook it warmly, whilst the smoking gentleman, who had remained mostly silent, put out his fist and we touched fists before shaking hands. I almost asked them if we could have a picture together outside, but then I had a vision of my guardian angel muttering some really un-angelic expletive and putting in his transfer request.  I moved on.

As I walked on I reflected on the incident; not for the first time I reflected on Sun Tzu the master Chinese strategist’s maxim that we should ‘Keep our friends closer and our enemies even closer.’ How right this is and what is more, we might even find, as happened in this case, that people who may (and I stress may) have had some nefarious intent, can actually become friends, but only through positive and constructive engagement.

So often the approach in international relations works in the opposite direction—we exclude from the international community those whose actions we disapprove of, but without seeming to pause to realise that, say in the case of Iran, North Korea and Zimbabwe, this exactly what their leaders want.  Because as we all know, nothing galvanises the people, even under the most delusional of leaders, than the threat of external attack. These types of leaders all play a game on the international diplomatic stage and we seem to fall for it every time.

When people behave in an anti-social way, do we back off and divide cities into no-go areas ruled by despots and gated communities or do we not seek to actively engage through every possible channel neighbourhood groups, police, faith groups, education and business? So when it comes to   international anti-social behaviour, why do we take the opposite approach and create international no-go areas and then invest in more security to keep our gated communities safe? We have a train-wreck hurtling out of control down the canyon now in the shape of Pakistan, who are fast losing friends in the international community because of their involvement in various anti-social activity, but this is precisely the time to engage not to withdraw.

Some might say there is a moral hazard here: could the actions of engagement be misconstrued as condoning certain unacceptable behaviours? Could my buying a campari and soda for the Gentlemen of Verona be misinterpreted?   Possibly, but the objective was not to score a moral point, it was to get out of the situation – ideally with my camera. Perhaps the result was that in some ways their impressions of ‘my type’ were challenged because they realised that I had a dream, I cared for my family, I had a sense of humour and perhaps my impressions of “their type” were similarly challenged by realising the hardships they faced in realising their ambitions for them and for their families. In an unexpected way, the encounter brought us a little closer together and in that sense made this small corner of the world a tiny bit safer for others who may pass by along this way in the future. For that I am grateful for my encounter with the Two Gentlemen of Verona.