by Mike Newall

The Consul General of Italy in Philadelphia would like to invite you for coffee, the invitation read. The invitation arrived in November. It offered dates in February. The consul general is a busy man, I figured. "Please come inside," Andrea Canepari said with a smile and the offer of an espresso when I arrived the other afternoon at his ornate office in the Public Ledger Building.

He wore a pin with the Italian and American flags fastened to the lapel of his dark-blue wool suit. He was exceedingly polite. He guided me toward leather armchairs arranged around a marble fireplace. He sat beneath an Italian flag. His window overlooks Independence Hall.

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Source: http://www.philly.com/