Vacations were spent by the sea or in the mountains; people listened to soothing operas like Puccini's La Bohyme and Madame Butterfly; the first silent-movies of The Last Days of Pompeii and Quo Vadis were made; one could partake in intellectual conversations in open air caf??s at the hour of the passeggiata.
Most vacations were spent on the mainland, far away from the sea, or in exotic countrysides.