| | I had not seen Asmara since the late 1960s, and my first impression on a recent visit in May 1993 was of a city that had changed hardly at all in the interval. The Eritrean nationalists wisely avoided turning Asmara into a battleground, sparing it the wholesale destruction suffered by Massawa in the fighting and subsequent Ethiopian bombing raids. Asmara retains the neatness, orderliness, and quaint charm of the colonial town lovingly built by the Italians in the early years of this century. Fin de siecle buildings, now brightly repainted, give the city an air of tropical cheerfulness. Cheerfulness is also the prevailing mood of its people who are enjoying peace after many years of violent conflict, and are content in the knowledge that the vexed issue of Eritrea's future has been settled to their satisfaction. |
