See that statue standing in our Piazza? (photo above). He is Verrazzano, the famous explorer…discovered the Bay of New York and a lot of the East Coast of the U.S. in the early 1500’s. His family was one of the top 2%ers of his day…They owned the Verrazzano Castle and winery here since the 7th century. You should see it to believe. The bridge in New York was the only thing named after him in America, as far as I know. What would have happened if he did not discover the Bay of New York? Would better or worse people have taken over? Would it ever have been discovered? Take a walk up the hill from the statue…Go about a mile and you get to the town-house sized home of Amerigo Vespucci. There is a figure of a ‘Wasp’ etched in the stone above the door; that’s how you can tell it was his home. Amerigo uncovered the fact, and drew maps accordingly, that “America” (which was named after him) was a ‘New’ Continent (Mundus Novus)…and not the Eastern Coast of Asia as theretofore believed. Imagine if Amerigo had not figured that out – the America’s might be Chinese to this day. And where would all the good, white, Christian people, who wanted to flee from Europe have gone? These are the kind of things one can ruminate about while enjoying a morning ‘Doppio’ Espresso (for only $2.20) in a nearby cafe. Something to take your mind away from the threat of redistricted elections in the Mundus Novus. “History is bunk!” said Henry Ford (one of America’s early 2%ers); but bunk can be interesting too…sayeth I, as I order another.
