ne of my favourite things about travelling is discovering all the nuances of other cultures. I’ve just spent the last week Italy and today we crossed the boarder into France where we ordered a coffee with our lunch. The waiter was horrified. Not fake horrified, genuinely horrified. Apparently it’s not the done thing in the French riviera. I love weird stuff like that. Something that seems so normal to me is something that’s super weird in another country. I love it. Before I get my head stuck in France I thought I’d write a few things I wish I had known before going to Italy.
1. Time is useless
Everything takes ages. Service, public transport, taxis… everything. Lots of things are broken too. I asked for the nearest ATM in the middle of Rome and the guy behind the counter said ‘There’s one next door but if that one is broken, go to the one opposite the post office and if that one is broken go to the one in the galleria. If that one is broken there’s a restaurant a ten minute walk away that has EFTPOS.’ I’m rarely in a rush when I travel so it’s fine but I’ve had to readjust my thinking because there’s no such thing as a ‘quick’ lunch and my usual half hour travel buffer has been extended to an hour and a half because sometimes things just don’t work out in Italy. It’s fine though because you can buy booze everywhere and the locals are hilarious. It makes 50 minute train delays seem heaps less annoying.
2. All Italian women are cooler than me
I promise I don’t have tickets on myself when I say this but I’m rarely the dullest person in the room. I’ve got weird crazy hair and no filter so even if people don’t like me, they usually remember me. In Italy, I might as well be invisible. The women here are off chops. They wear incredible tailored outfits and drive around on scooters in high heels. You know how when you go to a mall in Australia and there are groups of girls walking past you and they all look identical? That doesn’t happen in Italy – each woman has her own unique style and rocks it like a total badass. They even argue spectacularly. I walked past a fiery women passionately yelling in Italian at her lover last night, wildly gesticulating has she spoke. I was mesmerised and the dude she was yelling at looked like his world was being ripped apart. I live right next to a pub in Melbourne and I see couples quietly and awkwardly breaking up almost weekly. I’d love to see a little more passionate Italian action in my part of town. It’s made me self conscious about how much Australians like to pretend they don’t have feelings.
3. Eating gluten free is super easy
It’s been ridiculously easy to eat gluten free food here. Most places do gluten free pasta, at least half do gluten free pizza and failing that there’s always risotto. There’s also a fantastic brand called Schaar that has everything you could want with out gluten including gluten free cornettos in the ice cream section. Mr Smaggle had a rather holy experience with one of those bad boys last week. He’s better fed here than in Australia – he’s loving it.
4. Italian summer isn’t that brutal
Summer isn’t really my friend so I tend to panic a bit when it’s time to head to warmer climates but the weather here is spectacular. It’s still 30 degrees every day but it’s not as dry as Melbourne and the sun isn’t as ouchy. I’ve been walking around all day in the sun (wearing sunscreen, hat and long sleeves of course) and I haven’t even turned pink once. I could wear a hazmat suit on a shady balcony in Australia and still get sunburnt. It’s like the sun is different here. I may well have a proper (light) tan for the first time in my life. What a treat!
5. Italy is freaking spectacular
I’m ashamed to admit that Italy wasn’t really on my hit list of travel before I came here. I never had anything against it and I definitely planned to visit at some stage but it wasn’t on my urgent list. This trip happened very quickly and I was delighted to go but when I got to Italy I felt like the biggest chump. It’s amazing – incredibly diverse, breathtakingly beautiful and the food is just as amazing as everyone keeps banging on about. My biggest take away from Italy? Everyone should move it to the top of their travel bucket list immediately.
[divider type=”standard” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”]
Have you been to Italy? Do you plan to go sometime soon? What place is currently number 1 on your travel bucket list?
[divider type=”standard” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”]
P.S Also you should totally sign up for my newsletter. It’s full of cool stuff.