Italy, At Close Range

Forget the big crowds and ignore pronouncements; the best of Italy comes from small interactions

A few years ago, I was sitting in a Roman coffee bar with Antonella, my dog Mocha’s favorite sitter. I’d just returned from a trip and was picking Mocha up to take her home.

We were discussing refugees and migration. Antonella, a native-born Roman, was a supporter of the anti-migrant Lega political party, and she’d seen me on Italian television arguing f…