Unfortunately this one has been related to me so I don't have sources; anyway it was a recent interview on Italian TV. Maestro Riccardo Muti, the famed Italian orchestra conductor, currently living in Ravenna, was asked: "But how can an important man like you live in this small backwater town?" Glaring, the Maestro answered: "First of all, this was the capital of an Empire and a Kingdom. It has an extraordinary heritage of art and culture. And it's still a place where you can see a cat cross the road!"