Judy trying to figure out the water for the sink when the ‘faucet’ is operated with a pedal on the floor;
Carol being sure she was locked in the bathroom and wondering really how long it would take before John & Judy would come looking
Judy coming from the bathroom to say she needed help ‘flushing’
Carol & Judy’s first time walking into a bathroom with a man already in there. They hadn’t yet realized many bathrooms were co-ed.
The time that Judy casually said she was going up to the room at the Rome Hilton and when we followed a few minutes later we heard quite a ruckus with a lot of Italian being spoken and one person with a Minnesota accent repeating “Rosingana….” Turns out she had forgotten the room number and was trying the key in different rooms until housekeeping offered to help (in Italian of course). They couldn’t figure out her room number and were all in a cluster/fluster about the time we walked into the flurry.
Once again Judy had the staff going at the Venice Hilton when she left us in the breakfast room to go up to our room. We got off the elevator and heard the stir so we knew what was up this time and we all got a laugh over it.
One trip to the toilette as Carol was leaving and passing through the tiny sink area she met a man coming in. Because of the tiny space they were squeezing by as you do in a narrow hallway which landed Carol’s butt in the sink. The sink was motion activated and her butt was just enough motion to turn the water on. Her reflex that her butt was going to get wet caused an automatic hip thrust in the direction of the gentleman just as he passed by.
Realizing that some toilets are simply Porcelain rectangles in the floor!!!!
Experiencing many toilets with only porcelain and no seat, like a guy has permanently left the seat up
Breathtaking handsome men of all ages everywhere.
A different sense of style, and very classy for both men and women
Unbelievable food that will change the way we think of Italian food forever. We will expect fresher and lighter in the future.
Bruschetta (not pronounced Brush-shetta but Brush-ketta) comes in many different forms
We have a desire to learn to cook using healthy seasonings and olive oil with little to no butter or salt. We want to learn to create real Italian food at home versus the Americanized version.
Wine!!! How could it be so good 99% of the time, no matter what? How are we going to manage drinking domestic wine when we return home?
Pizza, not being big pizza eaters coming home with a new appreciation and desire to recreate what we have eaten, especially the Pizza Margharita.
We love the culture of eating for the joy of it, not to get it done. Learning to sit at the table and enjoy our wine or our coffee with no thought of when we will get or when we will ask for the check.
Never being asked if we want the check no matter what,it is considered rude.
In a tiny town and restaurant in the mountains in Tuscany when John moved some of his flatware (set across the top of the plate) and the owner/server politely picked it up and placed it back to where she had it set. She did this very gracefully while she was talking with us, but it was obviously important.
Notes to self or anyone else traveling in the future:
Never ever bring big suitcases. Always have a jacket that will handle a bit of rain with a hood and a vest so you can layer. For women, bring microfiber clothes that don’t wrinkle, rinse out and dry in the room overnight. Two or three pants with a matching jacket is plenty with about 4-5 light weight tops. Men all microfiber shirts and pants are more difficult but can be done at hotels for a fee.
Bring a little laundry detergent, lots of zip locks for various reasons, a couple of garbage bags, and envelopes to keep receipts and souvenir tickets. Purchase the vacuum sealed laundry bags (from travel site online) which condense dirty clothes into a tiny package.
Be sure you have electrical appliances that will convert from 110 to 240. If you don’t have that you will need a transformer to convert the power. Purchase converters that will convert your plug to fit their outlets. Check if your hotels have hairdryers, and if so don’t even think about dragging one with you.
Don’t bring pill bottles, use the little stackables.
Jewelry is unimportant and just extra weight
When taking long train trips pack a picnic. We found most Italian trains did not have dining cars
Don’t use the restaurant table as a way to rest your shopping stuff if you are not going to sit down as Judy did because you will politely be asked to sit or move on.
Don’t expect signs to be specific or to point in the right direction, instead only a general direction.
Don’t worry about what you eat because you will walk it off
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Adorable babies everywhere in great carriages that allow them to face Mamas and Papas so they can talk while they are strolling. Rain is no problem there is always a handy little zip up plastic cover.
The kindness and graciousness of the Italian people was beyond anything we anticipated.
We loved the Italian language, the musical sound of it and we all wished we could speak it.
The passion of the people no matter if they are talking politics, wine, food they are passionate about it!
Wonderful lightly stewed cherry tomatoes at breakfast
Freshly squeezed Sicilian Blood Orange juice at breakfast (OMG)
Allore
Grateful
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