At the Risk of Being Crude: There Must Be Fifty Ways to Flush a Toilet: Trip Report from Rome, Florence and Pompeii.
Apr 28th, 2008, 02:10 PM
#61
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must hear about Pompeii bathrooms! i'm worried about drinking too much to find my way out of the bathrooms, sounds like its hard enough sober! my 15 yr. daughter & i leave june 5 for 3 weeks of Rome, Capri, Greece, Greek Isles, back to Rome then fly to Paris.
i am soaking up every single morsel of information here, thank you so much!!!!
i am soaking up every single morsel of information here, thank you so much!!!!
Apr 29th, 2008, 04:41 AM
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Not Europe, but about 25 years ago in Seoul, Korea we were at a fairly nice local reastaurant, and I had to use the WC.
After several turns and twists thru dark corridors, I find the nice, new, clean urinal attached to the wall right in the hallway. OK, fine--I'd had a lot of OBs, so modesty was out the window.
I start up and immediately hear splashing sounds. When I'm done, I peek under the urinal--there's no drain pipe. The liquid simply poured out the bottom with most of it pouring into a 6-inch diameter hole cut into the floor--at least the portion that didn't splatter onto my shoes.
I thought I had done something wrong, but was assured by the men waiting in line behind me that this was indeed the set up that this restaurant provided.
I always wondered what was beneath that hole in the floor as the restaurant was on the 3rd floor of the building.
After several turns and twists thru dark corridors, I find the nice, new, clean urinal attached to the wall right in the hallway. OK, fine--I'd had a lot of OBs, so modesty was out the window.
I start up and immediately hear splashing sounds. When I'm done, I peek under the urinal--there's no drain pipe. The liquid simply poured out the bottom with most of it pouring into a 6-inch diameter hole cut into the floor--at least the portion that didn't splatter onto my shoes.
I thought I had done something wrong, but was assured by the men waiting in line behind me that this was indeed the set up that this restaurant provided.
I always wondered what was beneath that hole in the floor as the restaurant was on the 3rd floor of the building.
Apr 29th, 2008, 05:13 AM
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My husband had some of the same fun you did with toilets on our first trip to italy. His favorite story is from an Autogrill stop. While standing at the urinal the elderly lady attendant came in and cleaned the one next to him.
I'm sure your employer will understand if you finish this report before your work...
Thanks for sharing.
I'm sure your employer will understand if you finish this report before your work...
Thanks for sharing.
Apr 29th, 2008, 09:29 AM
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Oh, I forgot the cool March day driving on the Autobahn on the way to Cologne from Amsterdam. Stopped at a rest stop. Stainless steel, seatless toilets. Difficult not to touch that COLD steel with some portion of exposed skin. Would normally have taken the train for that portion of the trip, but some special stops on the way made that very impracttical.
May 6th, 2008, 12:25 PM
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I know I have wasted about 20 hours of my life trying to figure out how various European toilets flush! My daughters didn't believe me until we were having lunch at the Taverne Henri IV in Paris and my oldest daughter Alex was taking the longest time coming back from the loo. Finally my second daughter went looking for her. Alex had spent so much time looking for the flush mechanism that the timed light in the bathroom went out, and she was trying to find her way out in the pitch black! Maybe they will believe me in the future!
May 7th, 2008, 12:53 PM
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Italy06, your trip report is really fun to read. As is your conversations with other posters.
FYI you asked when we were going back for the 15th time: We leave in a week!! May 14!! Florence, Lucca, Orvieto, Rome. Come home June 4.
Someone mentioned being glad they were wearing a skirt in some of the bathrooms -- I think I will slightly revise my packing list! Had forgotten about the logistical problems in some places ----
FYI you asked when we were going back for the 15th time: We leave in a week!! May 14!! Florence, Lucca, Orvieto, Rome. Come home June 4.
Someone mentioned being glad they were wearing a skirt in some of the bathrooms -- I think I will slightly revise my packing list! Had forgotten about the logistical problems in some places ----
May 7th, 2008, 02:39 PM
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mnapoli, your story reminds me about an experience my sister, b-in-law and I had in Italy. We were in Pisa at on out of the way restaurant. After we ordered, my sister decided to visit the ladies' room. She had been gaone a short time, when a linking light went off and all sorts of alarm bells. All sorts of people were running toward the toilet. BIL and I looked at each other, but no one seemed to be carried out feet first, so we sat tight. Pretty soon, sis reappeared. It turns out that once she was in the room, there was no light and as she felt around for a switch, she grabbed a string. She thought it was one of those kinds of lights, so she yanked on it. Turns out it was the "Help me; I've fallen and can't get up!" alarm.
Jun 9th, 2008, 02:38 PM
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After a crazy work month, I finally am able to get back to my report – thanks for your patience.
Bright and early on a Friday, we left Rome for all points south. After reading everyone’s helpful posts about Pompeii, we debated about taking a train or renting a car and decided instead to book a car with an English-speaking driver.
He picked us up at 7:30 AM and we hit the road. As most of you who have been there probably know, getting out of Rome is not a quick trip to the local freeway entrance. It takes some winding around before you actually get on the highway. And our wandering around took us up the Appian Way, which was a treat in itself. Nick was our driver and more. My husband used the opportunity of being in the car for a couple of hours to sharpen his Italian skills and Nick was patient and helpful and he also wanted to sharpen his English skills so we all learned a lot.
As I mentioned earlier, before we left, we rented a BBC documentary on Pompeii. The first part was a dramatic interpretation of the events leading up to the eruption of Vesuvius and apparently before it erupted, there wasn’t even a word in the language for volcano. The premise of the dramatization is based on artifacts and bodies that they found and what their stories could have been leading up to the moment of eruption. Interesting though fairly fictional with some real citizens thrown in. But it is followed by the scientific explanation and here’s my question: is there not an unattractive woman in Italy? Even the volcanologists look like Monica Bellucci! As most of you know, what killed the citizens of Pompeii was not lava but a pyroclastic flow of gas that reached up to 1800 degrees, killing people instantly. It traveled down Vesuvius at over 60 miles an hour and although earthquakes and raining pumice stones preceded it, most citizens did not leave, unaware of what was about to come. Because it was not lava, the town was virtually preserved under the ash and rediscovered centuries later. Out of their tragedy, we are able to see an amazingly preserved town that was once a rich seaport.
When we arrived at the site, there were a few people lingering outside the gates who had badges and our driver walked up to one of them – a woman named Elvira (pronounced Elveera) and found out she was an official guide. After we paid 90 Euros, she took us on a private tour of the site. Well worth every Euro spent. She was terrific, we could ask lots questions and we were with her over three hours.
What an amazing, advanced town. They had running water (although in lead pipes that some surmise led to disease and death among many citizens in Italy.) They had the equivalent of fast food places – you can still see the kitchens and urns that contained food. They had a red light district (it was a seaport, after all) with a brothel that still has intact frescoes detailing what pleasures you might get in any particular room – very efficient, in my mind…
And in case you had a little too much house wine at the café nearby, the streets had sculptures of penises leading the way. An early GPS system perhaps. And the brothel had a bathroom – a marble hole in a room that no doubt had some ancient tourist wondering why all the bathrooms in Italy were so different….
There are plaster casings around people and animals that were quite literally caught dead in their tracks. We actually took a picture of a living dog lounging near the plaster cast of a dead 79 AD dog. Must have been cousins. And houses and temples and amphitheatres galore. You can easily spend a day there. I don’t know about the rest of you, but Pompeii is one of those places that just calls out to you from your 4th grade history class. I can still remember my teacher telling us stories about the events that led up to that terrible day. It was really a privilege to finally get to see it.
And it’s easily doable on a day trip from Rome.
BATHROOM IN POMPEII - Nothing special (no seat BUT there was a bathroom attendant and it cost a Euro to use.)
Since it was also my mother’s unrealized childhood dream, I bought her a beautiful book about Pompeii and asked our guide what else would be a keepsake of the area. She mentioned a hand carved cameo place and the second we walked in, I could feel the Murano Glass cold sweat pouring down my forehead. You know when you’re offered something to drink in a store that sells cameos that there will be a pitch involved. You’re not buying a cameo! You’re buying history! The same thing happened to us on Murano in Venice and we barely escaped buying champagne glasses for 300 Euros apiece. We ran away and bought postcards instead….
Since we got there fairly early, we decided we had enough time to explore farther down the coast. We headed towards Sorrento and as the cliffs started dropping off at alarming rates, we found a great restaurant hanging on the side of a cliff that had an outdoor patio and stunning views of the sea. It was in the Hotel Mega Mare. After a nice lunch of fresh fish and a bottle of Vino Bianco, we headed back to Rome.
RESTAURANT BATHROOM: Quite homey and the most American bathroom we had seen so far.
Hotel Mega Mare – about 30 minutes south of Pompeii on the coast
http://www.hotelmegamare.com/index.p...guaNew=Inglese
It was an uneventful trip back as we slept most of the way but we did stop at the Autogrill for a soda and a bathroom break.
AUTOGRILL BATHROOM – very efficient. The soap dispenser was automatic, the faucet was automatic and the dryer was automatic – all in one convenient package - no need to touch anything. Of course, it made up for the seatless toilets….
After a quick nap at our hotel, we headed out to a delicious dinner at 59 (Via Angelo Brunetti 59 – 063219019)
http://www.ristorante59.it/indexing.html
Their fish dishes are wonderful as is their rolled veal breast stuffed with Parma ham, sage and saffron.
59 BATHROOM – Panel flush- but had a seat!
NEXT: COVER THE BOWL. JOEL
And hurricane hand dryer from hell….
Bright and early on a Friday, we left Rome for all points south. After reading everyone’s helpful posts about Pompeii, we debated about taking a train or renting a car and decided instead to book a car with an English-speaking driver.
He picked us up at 7:30 AM and we hit the road. As most of you who have been there probably know, getting out of Rome is not a quick trip to the local freeway entrance. It takes some winding around before you actually get on the highway. And our wandering around took us up the Appian Way, which was a treat in itself. Nick was our driver and more. My husband used the opportunity of being in the car for a couple of hours to sharpen his Italian skills and Nick was patient and helpful and he also wanted to sharpen his English skills so we all learned a lot.
As I mentioned earlier, before we left, we rented a BBC documentary on Pompeii. The first part was a dramatic interpretation of the events leading up to the eruption of Vesuvius and apparently before it erupted, there wasn’t even a word in the language for volcano. The premise of the dramatization is based on artifacts and bodies that they found and what their stories could have been leading up to the moment of eruption. Interesting though fairly fictional with some real citizens thrown in. But it is followed by the scientific explanation and here’s my question: is there not an unattractive woman in Italy? Even the volcanologists look like Monica Bellucci! As most of you know, what killed the citizens of Pompeii was not lava but a pyroclastic flow of gas that reached up to 1800 degrees, killing people instantly. It traveled down Vesuvius at over 60 miles an hour and although earthquakes and raining pumice stones preceded it, most citizens did not leave, unaware of what was about to come. Because it was not lava, the town was virtually preserved under the ash and rediscovered centuries later. Out of their tragedy, we are able to see an amazingly preserved town that was once a rich seaport.
When we arrived at the site, there were a few people lingering outside the gates who had badges and our driver walked up to one of them – a woman named Elvira (pronounced Elveera) and found out she was an official guide. After we paid 90 Euros, she took us on a private tour of the site. Well worth every Euro spent. She was terrific, we could ask lots questions and we were with her over three hours.
What an amazing, advanced town. They had running water (although in lead pipes that some surmise led to disease and death among many citizens in Italy.) They had the equivalent of fast food places – you can still see the kitchens and urns that contained food. They had a red light district (it was a seaport, after all) with a brothel that still has intact frescoes detailing what pleasures you might get in any particular room – very efficient, in my mind…
And in case you had a little too much house wine at the café nearby, the streets had sculptures of penises leading the way. An early GPS system perhaps. And the brothel had a bathroom – a marble hole in a room that no doubt had some ancient tourist wondering why all the bathrooms in Italy were so different….
There are plaster casings around people and animals that were quite literally caught dead in their tracks. We actually took a picture of a living dog lounging near the plaster cast of a dead 79 AD dog. Must have been cousins. And houses and temples and amphitheatres galore. You can easily spend a day there. I don’t know about the rest of you, but Pompeii is one of those places that just calls out to you from your 4th grade history class. I can still remember my teacher telling us stories about the events that led up to that terrible day. It was really a privilege to finally get to see it.
And it’s easily doable on a day trip from Rome.
BATHROOM IN POMPEII - Nothing special (no seat BUT there was a bathroom attendant and it cost a Euro to use.)
Since it was also my mother’s unrealized childhood dream, I bought her a beautiful book about Pompeii and asked our guide what else would be a keepsake of the area. She mentioned a hand carved cameo place and the second we walked in, I could feel the Murano Glass cold sweat pouring down my forehead. You know when you’re offered something to drink in a store that sells cameos that there will be a pitch involved. You’re not buying a cameo! You’re buying history! The same thing happened to us on Murano in Venice and we barely escaped buying champagne glasses for 300 Euros apiece. We ran away and bought postcards instead….
Since we got there fairly early, we decided we had enough time to explore farther down the coast. We headed towards Sorrento and as the cliffs started dropping off at alarming rates, we found a great restaurant hanging on the side of a cliff that had an outdoor patio and stunning views of the sea. It was in the Hotel Mega Mare. After a nice lunch of fresh fish and a bottle of Vino Bianco, we headed back to Rome.
RESTAURANT BATHROOM: Quite homey and the most American bathroom we had seen so far.
Hotel Mega Mare – about 30 minutes south of Pompeii on the coast
http://www.hotelmegamare.com/index.p...guaNew=Inglese
It was an uneventful trip back as we slept most of the way but we did stop at the Autogrill for a soda and a bathroom break.
AUTOGRILL BATHROOM – very efficient. The soap dispenser was automatic, the faucet was automatic and the dryer was automatic – all in one convenient package - no need to touch anything. Of course, it made up for the seatless toilets….
After a quick nap at our hotel, we headed out to a delicious dinner at 59 (Via Angelo Brunetti 59 – 063219019)
http://www.ristorante59.it/indexing.html
Their fish dishes are wonderful as is their rolled veal breast stuffed with Parma ham, sage and saffron.
59 BATHROOM – Panel flush- but had a seat!
NEXT: COVER THE BOWL. JOEL
And hurricane hand dryer from hell….
Jun 9th, 2008, 07:13 PM
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Your report is wonderful! So glad you're continuing your tale.
I read an article on Pompeii in a Weekly Reader newspaper back in 4th grade and had wanted to visit there ever since. We took a day trip to Pompeii from Rome in 2005 and loved every minute of it of our time there. We listened to an audio tour downloaded from iJourneys.com and uploaded to our iPods as walked around Pompeii, and we enjoyed it a lot. It was truly one of my favorite travel excursions ever (I was going to say one of my favorite travel days ever, but on the way back to Rome from Pompeii, we stopped in Naples, which I absolutely HATED).
I loved your retelling of your high heels in Rome debacle. I had a similar experience in Rhodes, Greece, trying to navigate cobblestone streets in little stiletto sandals on the way to dinner. I think I ended up taking off my shoes and carrying them much of the way because it was apparent I was either going to break a heel or my ankle if I continued wearing them.
Looking forward to the rest of your story!
Eloise
I read an article on Pompeii in a Weekly Reader newspaper back in 4th grade and had wanted to visit there ever since. We took a day trip to Pompeii from Rome in 2005 and loved every minute of it of our time there. We listened to an audio tour downloaded from iJourneys.com and uploaded to our iPods as walked around Pompeii, and we enjoyed it a lot. It was truly one of my favorite travel excursions ever (I was going to say one of my favorite travel days ever, but on the way back to Rome from Pompeii, we stopped in Naples, which I absolutely HATED).
I loved your retelling of your high heels in Rome debacle. I had a similar experience in Rhodes, Greece, trying to navigate cobblestone streets in little stiletto sandals on the way to dinner. I think I ended up taking off my shoes and carrying them much of the way because it was apparent I was either going to break a heel or my ankle if I continued wearing them.
Looking forward to the rest of your story!
Eloise
Jun 9th, 2008, 07:25 PM
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OHMYGOD! I am totally relating to this thread. The first time I went to Europe was in 1967, and I was 5 months pregnant with our son. I had morning, noon, and evening sickness, so puked at every stop. I titled my journal "Europe As Seen Through The Bottom of a Toilet Bowl". BTW, I felt great the rest of the time, and we had a fabulous time.
When we got off the plane in London I went to the "loo", and came running out with a strip of toilet paper (what we called crepe paper in high school)---laughing to my husband all across the airport. Every little square of the paper had printed on it "Property of Her Majesty The Queen" or something to that effect. That was my very first impression of Europe, and I thought it was hysterical.
We just got back from Italy last week, and you are sooo right. Every time we asked where the "toilette" was, we were told it was downstairs. Usually very dark and steep stairs! My sister and I would just roll our eyes, as if "Of course, it is downstairs"! The same with everything being being "A 5-minute walk" or "It's about 50 meters" when it is actually a few miles away!
When we got off the plane in London I went to the "loo", and came running out with a strip of toilet paper (what we called crepe paper in high school)---laughing to my husband all across the airport. Every little square of the paper had printed on it "Property of Her Majesty The Queen" or something to that effect. That was my very first impression of Europe, and I thought it was hysterical.
We just got back from Italy last week, and you are sooo right. Every time we asked where the "toilette" was, we were told it was downstairs. Usually very dark and steep stairs! My sister and I would just roll our eyes, as if "Of course, it is downstairs"! The same with everything being being "A 5-minute walk" or "It's about 50 meters" when it is actually a few miles away!
Jul 3rd, 2008, 12:46 PM
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Ah, one of the great adventures when traveling .... the squat toilet. You're more likely to encounter these in other parts of the world; nevertheless, older buildings in certain parts of Europe, the occasional aged train station will still have the 'hole in the ground'.
And if you've not had the experience, here's a how to on Worldhum website.
http://www.worldhum.com/how_to/item/...oilet_20060923
And if you've not had the experience, here's a how to on Worldhum website.
http://www.worldhum.com/how_to/item/...oilet_20060923
Jul 4th, 2008, 04:15 PM
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not toilets, but urinals in Germany. The basic one was a trough at the base of a wall. You would go against the wall and it would run down to the trough where it went down a drain.
Next I ran into a restroom with a nice porcelain urinal like in the U.S. You went into it, but the bottom was not connected. The urine would run out the back where plumbing would normally be connected. It would then be directed against the wall, where it would run down to the trough at the base of the wall!
Next I ran into a restroom with a nice porcelain urinal like in the U.S. You went into it, but the bottom was not connected. The urine would run out the back where plumbing would normally be connected. It would then be directed against the wall, where it would run down to the trough at the base of the wall!
Jul 4th, 2008, 06:33 PM
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Thanks for topping this post. Love the trip report, italy06.
FYI - the smaller panel on the wall which flushes the toilet is for "liquids." The larger panel, which will usually push down the smaller panel as well is for "solids."
I can't wait for my return trip to Italy next year!
FYI - the smaller panel on the wall which flushes the toilet is for "liquids." The larger panel, which will usually push down the smaller panel as well is for "solids."
I can't wait for my return trip to Italy next year!
