My observations about Italy / Rome, so far:
- "Everything is in its place, but nothing is in order" <-- so true.
- Hot Chocolate is very thick here - it's like molasses!
- Unlike St. Louis, a rainy morning on Monday does not mean a cloudy, muggy week
- Italians talk very fast - multo veloce
- Italians have one rule when parking: park wherever there is space.
- You can easily spot a tourist. Just look for someone with a map. (Without one, good luck navigating the narrow, crooked, and poorly-marked streets of Rome!).
- If you're American, remember to order water senza gas.
- I haven't had an Espresso, but I hear they're quite the kick. Should I try one?
- Italy vs. Europe - it's actually quite true:
Comments
Your observations are pretty much spot-on, Jeff. But if I may, a couple of clarifications:
--"Very" or "much" is "molto" not "multo."
--Signage is terrible EVERYWHERE in Italia, not just Roma.
--Since when do Americans only drink "acqua tranquilla?" Plenty of Americans enjoy a little "frizzante" o "gassata." Such an overly broad generalizations.
--Of course you should have an espresso. But they're no more a kick than they are here. Caffeine is caffeine. Besides they're much smaller there. And have you been having your appropriate allotment of gelato???
I'm working on the gelato part... will be back in the downtown area tonight!
THIS IS AWESOME! It can all be explained very simply: Italians are Latins (THE Latins, of course). All of this is EXACTLY the same in Latin America (I'm Colombian). The culminating point was when the plane landed and everybody clapped: WE DO THE EXACT SAME THING!!! Hilarious.
Ha! Well, I think I will need to head down to Latin America on a flight sometime to experience this phenomenon a little closer to home...