EU: Italy once seemed utterly foreign. Ciao to all that...

I arrived in Rome in 1968 to take up the job of Reuters’ chief correspondent in Italy, and a few days later was asked to dinner at the British Embassy, where I found myself in conversation with an old and distinguished Italian journalist. By Alexander Chancellor

“Just remember one thing,” he said, with the gravity of a sage passing on an important piece of wisdom. “Rome is the only Middle Eastern city without a European quarter.” It seemed odd to characterise this cradle of European civilization as un-European, but over time I began to see what the journalist meant. The customs of the Romans, and of the Italians in general, did come to seem rather closer to those of Middle Easterners than of northern Europeans. It was impossible in Italy to penetrate the thickets of official bureaucracy, or indeed to conduct business of any kind, without the help or recommendation of a person of influence. Nothing was straightforward and above board. No price could not be haggled over. No favour could not be bought… Telegraph