These last couple of weeks are really the most amount of time I’ve spent in Italy and there were a few things that really stood out for me during the experience.
Small coffees. Really small coffees. This really affected Teesh more than me. The coffees are all basically very tiny espresso shots (effectively one mouthful each) so whilst cheap at about 80 euro cents each serve for Teesh this was a bit unacceptable. Eventually she learned to ask for a coffee milk or a cappuccino which was more along the lines of the size she was used to. Pretty funny.
Paying for toilets. When in Italy one must remember to bring change and sometimes even toilet paper. The paying toilets are generally quite nice but interestingly even in some restaurants or cafes you have to donate some money.
Talkative Italians. Rather interestingly on all our train journeys we always came across someone who was willing to have a chat and give us some helpful tips for getting around the current Italian city we were traveling to. And only some of them were boys wanting Teesh’s phone number … LOL
Tourists. There was just too many of them. Heh heh. I know that Teesh and I added to the total of the tourists but really it was hard to appreciate the history and beautiful sites in Italian with all the tourists milling about all over the place. I don’t think even in London I’ve felt there were that many tourists.
Crossing the streets. Pedestrians are definitely not king in the over-crowded streets of Italy, most especially Rome and Naples. There were not many cross walks and it wasn’t often that cars would actually even stop at zebra crossings. We got to the stage that at the end of the trip we just crossed the street irrespective of whether there was a zebra cross, or cross walk, or even cars coming down it. Most of them stopped eventually.
Standing at bars. For some reason its cheaper, significantly cheaper, to eat at the bar than to sit down. In London there is no such distinction so for that Italy is one step ahead.
Its better to be an alcoholic in Italian. Interestingly I paid more for my Fanta drinks than Teesh did for her local wine. So sometimes it really pays to be an alcoholic.
Drinking fountains. Absolutely loved the running fountains they have all over the place in Italy. The cool rushing water was a welcome relief to the stifling heat. My only concern was the environmental impact.
