After a week of museums, sculpture, cathedrals, Roman ruins, Renaissance Palaces, and the Vatican, my only question is: how is there any marble left on the planet?
After six months of wandering through parts of the world that might seem a little sketchy to the untravelled Westerner, (seedier parts of Bangkok, Communist Viet Nam, remote areas of Muslim Indonesia, tragic Cambodia, plus Africa with all its strife and corruption,) it was in Rome that Bank Of America decided there was too much “unusual activity” on my ATM card and locked me out of my account! What does that say about BofA’s opinion of Italy? Funny, but definitely a pain in the ass.
While I think Italian is a beautiful language, and appreciate its flow as well as its history, any two people speaking and gesturing together seem like they are having a full-on argument.
Italy is the home of the exotic sports car and the names just roll off the tongue. Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, Lanzia, Alfa-Romeo, Aston Martin…, huh? Yup, the only stop-me-in-the-street exotic sports car I saw the entire time was an English one - an Aston Martin Vantage, driven by a fat hairy old guy in some really nice clothes. The car looked fine enough to be Italian though…
After six months of wandering through parts of the world that might seem a little sketchy to the untravelled Westerner, (seedier parts of Bangkok, Communist Viet Nam, remote areas of Muslim Indonesia, tragic Cambodia, plus Africa with all its strife and corruption,) it was in Rome that Bank Of America decided there was too much “unusual activity” on my ATM card and locked me out of my account! What does that say about BofA’s opinion of Italy? Funny, but definitely a pain in the ass.
While I think Italian is a beautiful language, and appreciate its flow as well as its history, any two people speaking and gesturing together seem like they are having a full-on argument.
Italy is the home of the exotic sports car and the names just roll off the tongue. Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, Lanzia, Alfa-Romeo, Aston Martin…, huh? Yup, the only stop-me-in-the-street exotic sports car I saw the entire time was an English one - an Aston Martin Vantage, driven by a fat hairy old guy in some really nice clothes. The car looked fine enough to be Italian though…
I have been warned repeatedly about crazy driving in Italy and that every driver here acts like a frustrated Formula 1 racer. After the streets of Bangkok, Singapore and Saigon it seemed pretty tame. I did have lots of troubles crossing streets however - almost every country i've visited has been left side drive and it seemed I was always looking the wrong way when I stepped out! Some very close calls...
Holy crap, everyone smokes a lot! It’s worse than a coffee break at the tobacco farm.
Everyone said Italian men and women are all outrageously beautiful and wonderfully dressed in the most fashionable clothes. I would agree that there were lots of pretty people there, but not that many more than in any other city I’ve visited. As for fashion, well I’m definitely not the one to come to for advice but if high-fashion means ugly high-heeled boots I last saw at a Bon Jovi concert in 1987, then sure – everyone in Italy is fashionable. Everything else they were wearing looked really cool though.
The smallest note in the European currency is the 5 Euro. I like the one and two Euro coins and think America should come up with a good design (one that’s not almost exactly the same size and shape as the quarter. Maybe polygonal or something?) and get rid of the dollar bill. The only down-side is how heavy the change on your pocket gets and it’s surprising how quickly it adds up to real money!
Art!! Food!! Wine!! Italy is heaven on earth!
Holy crap, everyone smokes a lot! It’s worse than a coffee break at the tobacco farm.
Everyone said Italian men and women are all outrageously beautiful and wonderfully dressed in the most fashionable clothes. I would agree that there were lots of pretty people there, but not that many more than in any other city I’ve visited. As for fashion, well I’m definitely not the one to come to for advice but if high-fashion means ugly high-heeled boots I last saw at a Bon Jovi concert in 1987, then sure – everyone in Italy is fashionable. Everything else they were wearing looked really cool though.
The smallest note in the European currency is the 5 Euro. I like the one and two Euro coins and think America should come up with a good design (one that’s not almost exactly the same size and shape as the quarter. Maybe polygonal or something?) and get rid of the dollar bill. The only down-side is how heavy the change on your pocket gets and it’s surprising how quickly it adds up to real money!
Art!! Food!! Wine!! Italy is heaven on earth!
