Sunday, October 24, 2021

Random Italy tips and oddities


When I close out a trips blogs, I always have an eclectic mix of subjects. This time is no exception.

I’ll start with my new hobby of taking pictures of scenes through a wine glass. I’m so pleased with how fun everything looks.


Speaking of crowded; it amazed me how locals in the bigger, more touristy areas would just march forward. If you didn’t move out of their way, they’d walk right into you. Lucca and Peschiera were different. It reminded me of how Joe and I got used to the millions of pigeons everywhere. At first we tried to walk around them, but as we got used to them we just marched right through them… they got out of the way. I think the locals thought of us as pigeons.


There’s a couple of things to keep in mind regarding metro and train travel. For most region to region travel, you will use trains. There’s a great app called Trenit that gives you a fairly accurate guide to the times and prices—it even has a map feature to show where your train is going to stop. Pay attention to how many trains are shown. It’s much easier to not change trains and of course the travel time is less and the price is more. Our technique is to go to the train station a day ahead of time to check the accuracy of the Trenit prices and times (sometimes the times are a little different). We go through the process of buying the tickets until they want money, just to decide which train departure and arrival time we want. Then when we’re committed we buy them. These are non-refundable, so don’t buy your tickets for your first train-trip after you arrive on a plane. If the plane is late, you can’t get your money back on the train-ticket. Obviously this can be problematic during local holidays when your route may be sold out.


Metros are both easier and trickier. They’re everywhere and super easy to buy tickets at the kiosks inside the metro station. Pay attention to pick-pockets while you’re focused on the purchase. Metro is super cheap. For 1.5 euros you can travel for 100 minutes. Look up the metro system map ahead of time and screenshot it to your phone for reference. Even if you change trains you can keep going on the same ticket. The ticket’s minutes don’t start until you stick it in the little turnstile machine. The reason I tell you is that you can purchase your return tickets simultaneously instead of doing it again later. So to go from Tor di Valle to Colosseo and back (with a metro change along the way) we bought 4 tickets for 6 Euros… two for going into town, two for return.


Now for the drying rack. I noticed at our first Airbnb there was a two door cabinet above the sink which was empty. It looked like it was made to set plates and bowls in at an angle instead of stacked, but the dishware was in a different cabinet. Shrug. The next place had the same empty above-the-sink cabinet. At the third place, I became suspicious that I was missing something important. Upon inspection we realized (yes, Joe was baffled too) that it was a dish drying rack that dripped into the sink. Isn’t that brilliant? You do your dishes, put them on the rack to dry, and shut the door to hide them. It would be great here in the US, but we all have a dishwasher.


I noticed a major fashion change since our last visit. The shoe fashion has always been the cornerstone of the Italian culture, so I was shocked when I saw that practically everyone was wearing tennies. Mostly white ones. Even in formal clothes, like a black dress, the girl would have white Adidas on! It’s smart, don’t get me wrong, but very different.


Next trip in the spring, we head to Portugal.

2 comments:

  1. Hi sissy I sure enjoyed traveling with virtually. Love your stories and pics

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    1. That's why I do this blog... I love to have you guys along on my adventures. Seriously, I do think about all of you who read my blog as I go about my travels. I'll jot notes to myself about things that happen. :)

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