Reconstruction USA

In Rome, the visit to the Colosseum was an amazing experience. We joined a guided tour to learn about the design, construction, epic Gladitoral games that went on for days, and then the period of decline when the building became disused and was plundered for the valuable white marble blocks that once sheathed the foundation stonework.

At the end, our guide asked for questions. A young American woman piped up, and said: "Are there any plans to renovate this place?" There was a slightly stunned, not to say embarrassed silence, before the Italian guide smiled sweetly and replied: "No, we think it's just perfect as it is."

I'm not anti-American. Honest. But this did seem to be a continuation of a theme. I remember an incredible experience on a camping safari in Africa's Serengeti national park, where our group travelled on dirt tracks into the heart of the scrub and spent a night in tents, sharing the land with wild animals. On the way back, we stopped (as all must do) at the park lodge to register out, and I browsed through the comments book. There was an entry with an American address complaining about the state of the roads, and suggesting that the authorities lay some decent Tarmac.

I'm sure not all Americans think this way. But new, slick and smart is not the only way, guys.