sarge56

Ok, obviously, Italy is the most fabulous place in the world, IMHO.

But I have to throw out my few Italy rants before I get started on the fabuloso part...

1) What is it with the Italian obsession of smoking? Have these folks not gotten the word about this deadly habit????
2) What is it with the absence of shower curtains? Perhaps Italians have learned how to shower without flooding the bathroom; if so, I wish they'd share a video or something.
3) What is it with Italians wearing wool coats and jackets when it is 75-80 degrees outside?

and

4) Why no doggie bags? Didn't I PAY for the entire meal? If I cannot finish it, why can't I take it home to finish later?

OK, that's it. I'm done. All drops of water in the big bucket of Italian greatness.

Trip report next week, I promise.

julia_t

Can't answer any of your questions, but looking forward to the trip report! Soon as you can please, I'm suffering Italy withdrawal symptoms at the moment...http://www.fodors.com/community/images/PostMessage.png

Cowboy1968

1) With Berlusconi, the volcanoes and earthquakes, and the Mafia, that LAST thing you gotta worry about in Italy is your daily pack of Marlboros.

2) Perfect body control.

3) 75 is NOT hot. And sometimes you gotta suffer to look good.

4) WTF do you people do with cold leftovers lumped together in a styrofoam box in a hotel room anyway? Looks awful, tastes awful.

kybourbon

1) I don't think it's just the Italians smoking. Have you ever been to France? Spain? Greece? etc.

2) Perhaps it's just an efficient way to clean the bathroom?

3) They are used to summers in Italy so 75-80 is quite cool.

4) You had food leftover? lol

ParisAmsterdam

1) The why does Italy have a longer life expectancy than the US? According to the UN Italy is number 12, the US number 38 in the world.

4) On the other hand, the US ranks number 1 in the world in obesity rates and Italy 25th.


Looks to me as if doggie bags may be more hazardous than smoking! LOL

Zerlina

4. Italian restaurants assume that you won't order more than you can eat, so they aren't equipped to provide doggie bags. Since it's possible to order course by course and even to order half portions of many dishes, the absence of doggie bags should not pose a problem, except perhaps to people with major food-intake problems.

Giovanna

2. Sort of learned how to shower without curtains in the UK, so it was the least of my worries in Italy.

3. Because they know how to dress, have gorgeous clothes and refuse to sweat! On the other hand, at that temp (or lower) Americans have to wear shorts (regatdless of body type) and think it keeps them cool.

4. As kybourbon said, you actually had food left over?

tower

Sarge et al:
great rants and hilarious answers.

KyBourbon's <j>"Perhaps it's just an efficient way to clean the bathroom"</i>..priceless!!

stu

nytraveler

Agree on the smoking rant.

Have not notice the lack of shoer curtains reently (did 20 years ago - perhaps I'm styaing in better hotels).

Don;t care what lcals wera.


Can't imagine food left over in italy - portions are so much smaller than in the US. And even it I'm left with half a portion of pasta - why would I want to drag it back to my hotel?

adrienne

1. I think there is far less smoking in Italy now.

2. absence of shower curtains - do you mean those wonderful bathrooms where you have a shower head coming out of the wall and a drain and nothing to contain the water? I love those rooms and wish I had one at home!

3. I've often wondered about this. I remember one time in Rome I was in a short sleeved shirt and the Roman woman were wearing winter coats. I was hot just looking at them.

4. You're supposed to know how much you can eat and finish your plate or leave the leftovers.

markland

3. Have you been to Florida when it's below 70? Wool coats, fur coats, parkas, heavy sweaters. Too, too funny to a Canadian. I've had comments from well-meaning and charming Flordians, worried about us in shorts and t's. When in Rome, eh?

4. Have you ever been stared at by a French waiter after asking for a doggie bag? Enough said. I only made that mistake once. lol

BTW, I've never seen a shower curtain in France either. Maybe at the George V, but not in my budget.

Gotta laugh though. I'm looking forward to my first trip this fall to Italy and discovering all kinds of cultural nuances.

Otzi

News Flash!!!!!!!!!!

It's not just Americans wearing shorts over in Europe. Nor are we the only overweight culture anymore. Why the constant need to bash ourselves? OH, because the media tells us to.

Wooders101

As for the smoking thing - I reckon it's how all the Italian gals stay as thin as they do - cigarettes as appetite supressants.

annhig

well, sarge, we were in Rome for a week in Feb, and suffered from non of these problems - in fact one of MY rants would have been the shower curtain in the bathroom in our apartment - I hate them. we didn't suffer from smoke at all, not even when we ate outside [yes in Feb, and not even woth our coats on] on one of those terraces surrounded by plastic to keep the heat in.

and strangely, even the Romans were taking their coats off within the same terraces - goodness knows what damamge the patio heaters were doing to the ozone layer!

and we loved the food so much, there was NEVER any call for a doggy bag.

Now where's your Trip Report?

Zerlina

>>Why the constant need to bash ourselves?<<

There is no need for Americans to bash themselves, but they might be wise to refrain from bashing other countries that have a better record than the US with respect to certain issues...

Texastrips

Hilarious in all regards. Thank you.

(But obesity rates are far higher in the US than any European country, and shorts wearing is far far more common in the US - and on Americans in Europe - than any European country except on the beach.)

Lynnaustin

Good list but you missed the #1 rant that I have- where are all of the toilet seats?!!

kybourbon

And how do you flush that toilet? lol I'm just glad you don't see that awful pink toilet paper anymore that had the wood chips in it.

yewstulivnitalia

1- Why can't people not smoke, like at home.Don't they know they are bothering me. Why can't it be like home.
2 - Waaaa! why can't I have a showe curtain. Why can;t i
have a bathroom like at home.
3 - Why do they wear heavy clothing in this weather, ehy can't they dress more like me and the people at home.
4 - I can get a doggie bag at home, why can't I get one in Italy. It's customary at home, why can't they make it customary in their country. Whats wrong with them

Waaaa! I like to travel but why can't these things be just like home.

Peter_S_Aus

<<4) Why no doggie bags? Didn't I PAY for the entire meal? If I cannot finish it, why can't I take it home to finish later?>>

Two reasons that you don’t get a doggie bag.

Reason the first – no self respecting restaurant would handle “second hand” food in their kitchen, because of the possibility of cross contamination, or giving the wrong doggie bag to the wrong patron.

Reason the second – if you want take-away food, you can buy it elsewhere. The restaurant is selling you a meal to be taken at a table, not taken away from the table.

There is always the possibility of taking your own container, and packing up your food at the table. That would be quite a spectacle, and one would attract some very strange looks.

We noticed in Venice that there are fewer people walking around with coffee in paper cups than we see in Melbourne – coffee “esporto” is not normal.

You won’t find doggie bags – let’s call them by their proper name, containers for left-over food - in Melbourne either. Our food handling regulations discourage this.

Oh, a possible third reason that you don’t get a doggie bag. You didn’t have a dog on your travels.