And another thing…

I just saw a Carnival Cruise ad featuring a group of peppy young women. One of them announced in voiceover:

"We came to Venice to answer some questions… How could one man have given us both David and the Sistine Chapel?"

Of course, it turns out the most important question had to do with shoes because they are women and women like shoes more than art because they are women and shoes are the things that women like most. But if they were looking to get their Michelangelo-related question answered, they went to the wrong place. David is in Florence; the Sistine Chapel is in Rome.

I don't think it's too much to expect a cruise line to do about two minutes' worth of research rather than just treat Italy like some kind of goddamned mutant Epcot where the Pope, Don Corleone, and Roberto Benigni paddle their gondolas past the Leaning Tower while eating a-spicy meatballs-a. But this is the same cruise line which promotes itself with a song about heroin, so my expectations are somewhat lowered.