tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10757771.post3788756927880498291..comments2023-09-22T09:03:09.417-04:00Comments on Townie Bastard: More Italian advicetowniebastardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03129158923604362272noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10757771.post-42281464067022163292008-07-09T21:50:00.000-04:002008-07-09T21:50:00.000-04:00OK, this is mt last Bill Bryson excerpt, I promise...OK, this is mt last Bill Bryson excerpt, I promise! From his book Neither Here Nor There:<BR/><BR/>"For a week, I just walked and walked. And when I tired I sat with a coffee or sunned myself on a bench, until I was ready to walk again. <BR/><BR/>Having said this, Rome is not an especially good city for walking. For one thing, there is the constant danger that you will be run over. Zebra crossings count for nothing in Rome, which is not unexpected but takes some getting used to. It is a shock to be strolling across some expansive boulevard, lost in an idle fantasy involving Ornella Muti and a vat of Jell-O, when suddenly it dawns on you that the six lanes of cars bearing down on you have no intention of stopping. <BR/><BR/>It isn't that they want to hit you, as they do in Paris, but they just will hit you. This is partly because Italian drivers pay no attention to anything happening on the road ahead of them. They are too busy tooting their horns, gesticulating wildly, preventing other vehicles from cutting into their lane, making love, smacking the children in the back seat and eating a sandwich the size of a baseball bat, often all at once. So the first time they are likely to notice you is in the rear-view mirror as something lying on the road behind them. <BR/><BR/>Even if they do see you, they won't stop. There is nothing personal in this. It's just that if something is in the way they must move it, whether it is a telephone pole or a visitor from the Middle West. The only exception to this is nuns. Even Roman drivers won't hit a nun - you see groups of them breezing across eight-lane arteries with the most amazing impunity, like scraps of black and white paper borne along by the wind - so if you wish to cross some busy place like the Piazza Venezia your only hope is to wait for some nuns to come along and stick to them like a sweaty T-shirt."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10757771.post-10716149649443241532008-07-09T15:19:00.000-04:002008-07-09T15:19:00.000-04:00My observations on your observations. 1.) Agreed. ...My observations on your observations. <BR/><BR/>1.) Agreed. This only happened to us (I think) once in Greece. And I was so annoyed. Uhhh... excuse me? We are paying for food, AND drinks... there is no excuse to have to pay for the table too. I could understand maybe if we were just having water, or a cheap bevvie of some sort... but totally out of line.<BR/><BR/>2.) I get angsty about pay washrooms too. France/Paris is the absolute WORST for that. Didn't see any in Greece though... to my relief... but then they don't let you flush toilet paper in Greece either, so maybe the nasty experience of having to fold up used toilet paper and stick it in the garbage can is payment enough.<BR/><BR/>3.) I always marvel at how cheap you can get water for in Europe. When I lived in France I got used to picking up the large bottles for something like .19 Euros (less than 50 cents for you Canucks). At the little street-vendors across Greece you would spend about .50 euros for the small bottle... and then you come up here and spend like 19 bucks for a cooler-bottle?<BR/><BR/>Grr. Nothing like gouging people for what should ACTUALLY be free. As far as I'm concerned they should be charging for the BOTTLE not the liquid inside. <BR/><BR/>*step off soapbox*Jackie S. Quirehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11470854932663182657noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10757771.post-76696517536717235682008-07-09T12:07:00.000-04:002008-07-09T12:07:00.000-04:00I hear you on the "pay to pee" thing here. I lear...I hear you on the "pay to pee" thing here. I learned some important lessons last year that have made a world of difference for this trip.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com