There's no escape

I just returned from a two-week trip to Italy, including several days in the beautiful city of Florence (Firenze in Italian) and a day trip through Tuscany. From a scenic perspective, Italy is very different from the U.S., because it is almost entirely "civilized." The cities have been there for a thousand years, and the countryside has been cultivated and tamed for even longer. You don't find many vistas of forests or wide-open spaces. But the views are still lovely in their own way, and I was struck by the colors - the yellows and oranges of the autumn vineyards were reflected in the ochers and terracottas of the buildings.

I was also struck, unfortunately, by the same intrusive commercialism of billboards, even in what I would consider sacred spaces. Here is a picture from the Piazza di la Repubblica, one of the main plazas in Florence for both residents and tourists. An entire building is covered by a billboard - right in the heart of a city that is known for its art and architecture.

On our trip through Tuscany, we would be out in what seemed like the middle of nowhere, and there would be a billboard advertising a vacuum cleaner or a car. The billboards were smaller than those we're used to, but they are right next to the road which made them very distracting. They also were easy to mistake for directional signs. They certainly interfered with the enjoyable drive through a scenic area.

I was not able to take any billboard pictures in Tuscany, but I did take some on other drives. As you can see, these are smaller, but because they are so close to the road they are very distracting.


This next picture was taken on an exit from the autostrada (similar to the interstate). They are so cluttered that you probably would just ignore all of them. It should also be noted that Italian drivers are, in my opinion, insane (my mother is Italian, so I let her do all the driving) and they don't need ANYTHING to distract them! I think these billboards just become a visual background and people who live there don't notice them.

Which brings me to a realization about what Lady Bird Johnson was trying say. We don't really notice the beauty that's right around us. If the stunning scenery has become mundane, if we've become used to it, then it really doesn't matter if you put up a big sign in front of it. That's why groups like Scenic Alabama exist - to make people aware, and then to help the community do what it can to keep the billboards out of the way of the scenery.