Here are some little odds and ends you might find helpful when you’re in Rome:
Security screening: You will find x-ray and other screening devices at the airport and at some selected historical sites around Rome. Don’t panic: they are only kidding. In the U.S., each person is assumed to be a terrorist. In Rome, they pretty much assume you’re a nice person. So you will often find the devices screaming warnings that your bag should be checked, or you should be searched for knives, explosives or other weapons of mass destruction. The same thing happened to the person in front of you, and the same will probably happen to the person behind you. No one pays attention to these alarms.
In the U.S., you would most likely be tackled and thrown to the ground—not in Italy. Even if they are paying attention, which is rare, they will usually shrug at the alarm and hustle you right on through. In a way it restores faith in humanity. These people trust you, and its nice to see that in these times. Sure they have their machine guns, but it’s pretty much a dress-up kind of thing for the tourists. You gotta love these people!
Parking: It’s nearly impossible to park legally in Rome, and few people get tickets. When you do get a ticket, it’s a big one, and it’s usually delivered by three, yes three, polizia municipale. One writes the ticket, one deals sympathetically with the irate owner of the vehicle and a third stands by watching it all happen. And don’t think you can ignore a ticket just because you are an American and about to leave the country. They have good memories here. For instance, due to a minor infraction years ago in Modena, I will never be able enter that town again to buy a bottle of its famous “aceto balsamico” without legal peril. The ticket followed me all the way back to the U.S. of A and I can’t for the life of me remember paying it, a possible oversight on my part. It was big.
Paper products: They are precious and hoarded here. In the U.S., we take napkins by the stack, have brochures, maps, advertisements ad nauseam. Not here. Italy does not have a lot of forests left having harvested them for the past several thousand years, so paper is treated with great respect. Now there’s a downside to this in the sense that there is a great lack of printed information available to visitors of nearly all of the famous sites. And even in the more upscale restaurants you may find yourself wiping your lips on your sleeve for want of a decent napkin.
In many places, you can rent headphones for an audio tour, but brochures are usually unavailable. Instead, you need to read up in your guidebooks (hopefully purchased in the U.S. before you leave) on what you’re going to visit. There are few things more frustrating to a traveler than to be in a famous place and not know why. And it’s even worse when everyone around you is “oohing and aahing” taking pictures, and you can’t figure out why.
Cappuccino: First, Italians usually don’t drink cappuccino in the afternoon. It’s considered a morning drink, and respectable Romans drink espresso after the noon hour. Oh, you can get a cappuccino anytime of the day or night, but you will be identifying yourself as a tourist. Accept it. You are a tourist, and no matter what disguise you may employ, they not only know you’re a tourist, but know exactly what country you are from. It’s magical. I AM Italian, I wave my arms a lot when I speak and I dress in black as much as possible. They still hand me the American menu in restaurants and ask me about the health of our president—usually hoping for a bad report.
Pizza: It’s bad. Buy something frozen if you can. Better yet, wait until you get home and order a Domino’s. I have never had a good pizza in Italy other than Naples. We went to the best-rated pizza place in Rome early in our stay, and it was just like we remembered, awful.
If you really want a pizza you can admire and brag about, go to a place called “Ciro” in Naples. You will not be disappointed; it’s awesome, the pizza against which all other pizza world-wide should be compared.
By the way, if you’re in Naples, don’t wear any jewelry, especially necklaces, and keep your wallet in your front pocket. If you feel a hand in your front pocket (and it isn’t your own), it’s not someone trying to be friendly, but instead you’re being robbed.
