We’re in Paris now and I wanted to wrap up my thoughts on Rome and Florence with a few odds and ends that may help a future traveler to Italy.
Bread and Water: Americans are use to not paying for bread or water in a restaurant. In Italy, if bread is not on your table and you ask for it, you will be expected to pay for it. The same with water. Rarely will tap water be offered. So if you ask for water, it will be bottled and you will be expected to pay for it.
Sitting down: In Rome, there is usually a charge for sitting down, especially if you are having something like a capuccino. You will easily pay double for the same cup of coffee if you sit at a table to drink it.
The Truce: In Italy there is an uneasy truce between pedestrians and vehicles. Drivers think they have the right of way even in clearly marked crosswalks where they are obliged by law to stop for you. They will not stop unless you walk out into the street and dare them to hit you. That’s why it is safer to move as a herd across a street, but some brave soul needs to move out first. It’s clearly a game of chicken with drivers hoping to scare you back to the sidewalk. If you don’t take matters into your own hands, you may never get to where you are going. It’s that simple.
Dog Poop: Rome has surpassed Paris as the dog poop capital of the world. Throw your shoes away when you get home.
Paying the Bill: Buying pastries, candy, meat, cheese, etc. from a local purveyor requires some careful observing. In some stores you must first go to the cashier, pay for what you want and give the receipt to the person behind the counter who puts your order together. In other stores, you can order food, receive a slip from the counter person which you then bring to the cashier and then return to the counter with the slip to show you paid for it and pick up your stuff. On rare occasions it works like in the USA. You pick out what you want, bring it to a cashier and you’re on your way. Don’t worry if you mess all this up, they are patient.
Grocery Store Bags: Forget the concept of a paper bag when buying groceries. People in Italy either bring their own reusable food cart or cloth bag, or you get a plastic bag handed to you. Bag boys are home with their mothers.
Metric System: Brush up on your metric numbers. A kilo is 2.2 pounds. Most food is purchased in grams. If you want a pound of something, you want a little less than half a kilo or about 454 grams. 300 grams seems to be a common quantity and that equals about eleven ounces. Hand signals also work in terms of asking for an amount of something. You may not look all that smart, but nobody knows you over here. If you know an American who understands the metric system, he’s probably a drug dealer.
Taxi Cabs: Taxi cabs are not convenient to use in Italy. It’s against the law for them to pick up a passenger off the street unless they are at a designated taxi stand. You can’t hale a cab. People call cabs on their cell phones. When you do that, the meter begins when the taxi leaves the taxi stand to pick you up, so even before you get in, you’ve got a bill. And bags do not ride free in these taxis. In fact, the surcharge for bags can more than equal what you pay for the drive to the railway station. This was very bad in Florence. I wouldn’t say the cabbies there are crooks, but you will be “taken for a ride” in more ways than one in that town.
Nobody Pays But Us: Public transportation in Italy is free for Italian citizens. It isn’t supposed to be, but the only people I ever saw pay on buses, trains or subways were tourists. Rome has an honor system where you are supposed to buy a ticket and stamp it at a meter when you get on a bus, subway or train. I spent several days studying this phenomena. If you are caught on a bus without the ticket stamped, you are subject to a huge fine. However, the three inspectors who cover all of Rome inspecting tickets are generally drinking capuccinos at the local cafe when all of this is going on.
Wine: Italian wine is very good and mostly inexpensive. A can of Coke is three dollars, a bottle of wine can be had for $4.50. Wine here is considered a drink as opposed to a statement. We were sitting in a little Italian restaurant for lunch and a mother at the next table was pouring a little wine into her daugher’s glass of water to flavor it. The youngster couldn’t have been more than five years old. No-one was arrested. No visit from child protection, etc.
Vietato Fume: Smoking is out in restaurants throughout Italy (France too). This is wonderful. You can now actually eat indoors, breathe, taste the food, and leave without being covered with carcinogens. It was so bad. This change was a very big deal.
Museums: Museums are getting very expensive. A fifteen dollar charge to enter is not uncommon. Most museums and historical sites do not have english explanations, so bring a good guidebook if you want to understand what you are looking at. The audio tours are less than inspiring, so don’t count on them to be very useful.
Signs: You will find yourself wondering where the signs and brochures are. They aren’t. Rome should hire the Disney World people to teach them how to get people in, through and out of these historic sites. There are no signs. Once you arrive at where you’re going, you will very likely find yourself wandering around looking for what you’re supposed to do or see. Allow time to find the entrance.
Hours of Operation: It may not be open. Hours of operation in Italy are, shall we say, non standard. So while you can be pretty sure all museums will be closed on Monday, it doesn’t mean they will all be open on Tuesday. And if they are open on Tuesday, it doesn’t mean their opening and closing times will be the same. So check carefully before you leave your hotel or you may be taking a long walk for nothing.
The Euro: Aren’t you sick of hearing about the weak dollar and how little it will buy in Europe? If you can afford to be here, quit complaining. Now having said that, it’s a heart attack. All those stories about nine dollar Big Macs and eight dollar cups of capuccino - they are true. The American dollar is approaching joke status over here. Even the beggars on the street won’t take American money. And no matter how much of it you have back in the USA, you will feel poor here. Bill Gates will feel poor here. While we in the USA have been fighting over gay marriage, gun control, abortion, stem cell research, Iraq, etc. the Europeans have totally blown by us. Despite their good fortune, the ones we talked to seemed genuinely saddened and bewildered by what has happened to the U.S. You could hear it in their voices and see it in their faces. Sometimes I’m embarassed for us.
