Eritrea: The paradoxes of Asmara, is this Tuscany or Africa?

Asmara, Eritrea (Reuters) - Stroll down a broad, palm-lined boulevard in blinding sunshine and take cappuccino at one of the crowded pavement tables of the Cafe Moderna, steps from the imposing spire of a large Roman Catholic church.

Eritreans walk past the Italian built Roman Catholic Cathedral on Harnet avenue in the capital of Asmara June 22, 2006. Many African countries are eager to throw off reminders of colonial rule but Eritrea seems to have a lingering affinity with Italy, most of whose citizens have long departed. REUTERS/Ed Harris

After chatting in Italian to an elderly gent in an immaculate dark suit and carrying a cane, wander off to an outside terrace and lunch on spaghetti alle vongole (spaghetti with clams).

A few hours later, drop into a peaceful gelateria with views over wooded hills for a delicious coffee ice cream.

A hill town in Tuscany? Or may be the palms mark it as one of Sicily's cities?

Far from it. This is Asmara, capital of Eritrea in the Horn of Africa. No wonder a few days there can leave a former correspondent in Italy somewhat confused.

Many African countries are eager to throw off reminders of colonial rule but Eritrea seems to have a lingering affinity with Italy, most of whose citizens have long departed.

There are other vivid reminders in Asmara, often cited as the most beautiful capital on the continent.

They include the many pastel-coloured Modernist buildings, a gentler import than the rest of Benito Mussolini's harsh and hated fascist rule here.

The Albergo Roma has been lovingly restored with Italian marble and would look entirely at home in central Rome.

At sunset, elegant young women walk arm-in-arm down the boulevard as they join the passeggiata, the quintessential Italian evening stroll.

Whereas in Nairobi, where I live, Kenyans labour on heavy Chinese bicycles, Eritrean cyclists are the real deal. Dressed in Lycra on sleek racers, they look much like their counterparts on the country roads of Italy.

MONUMENT TO WAR

Despite power shortages which leave many streets in darkness at night, Asmara has almost no crime and you can wander the streets with virtual impunity.

The small daughter of a prominent Middle Eastern ambassador wandered up to the ice cream shop while this visitor was there, not a bodyguard in sight, after walking from her home.

Yet these images do not convey the full picture of a complex society whose paradoxes can leave visitors disoriented, a sensation perhaps compounded by the city's 2,300 metre (7,500 feet) altitude.

A much more authentic symbol is what appears from a distance to be a huge scrap metal dump on the outskirts of Asmara.

Get closer and you can see that this is not the usual mixture of smashed cars and domestic appliances but a rusting pile of trucks, anti-aircraft guns and even Soviet-built tanks.

The unusual monument symbolises the central event that conditions all Eritrean official thinking and attitudes to the outside world -- the 30-year independence war against its huge neighbour Ethiopia, which was finally won in 1991.

Most senior officials are former guerrillas filled with a steely pride and an unwavering belief in self-reliance built from victory against the giant regional power next door.

That attitude led them unflinchingly into a border war with Ethiopia from 1998 to 2000 in which 70,000 died on both sides.

Border tensions are still high and Eritrea remains highly militarised with a 300,000-strong army drawn from its population of 3.6 million.

Suspicions of foreign powers, nurtured through a long history of mistreatment, have been aggravated by what Eritrea sees as a new betrayal by the world -- failure to make Ethiopia comply with a 2002 border ruling following their conflict.

And Eritrea's many surprises don't end when you depart.

When I left on a chartered Eritrean Airlines plane with a Russian crew the flight was 19 hours late. Less surreal, perhaps, than arriving on a chartered Icelandic Airways flight with a French cabin crew picked up in Paris on the way.