Italy's Melting Pot

With a national birthrate hovering at less than replacement value for the past two decades, Italy had to find labor somewhere--people to build the cars and clean the hotels and work in Tabacchi shops. So, they turned to Albania, India, Pakistan, China and North Africa.

A few years ago, the only ethnic restaurants to be found were Chinese and American fast food. Now, there are Indian restaurants, Kebab shops and Shushi plates. And more and more headscarves dot the market.

Still, in a land where basketball is a distant second to soccer, I never expected to see a pickup cricket game (played with a tennis ball) this weekend on the concrete river embankment outside our window....