Hi all,
I’ve only been in Torino, Italy for a few days now so this post won’t be too long but I wanted to share some of the things that I have experienced or noticed about Italy so far- and they are mostly random.
People don’t really smile. In America you might walk down the street and smile at someone passing you bye or say hi to a random person to be nice, here that is not the case.
Also the “personal bubble” most Americans are used to having doesn’t exist here. Since there are so many people it is common to literally be standing up on someone that you don’t even know (especially on the bus).
The food doesn’t contain preservatives so most Italians buy small amounts of food every few days- either at a supermarket or an open market in many of the cities piazzas. In the case of the open market, it is okay to just look at fruit and inspect it, but here you must where gloves to touch any of the produce or the owner will yell at you. They also don’t refrigerate eggs in stores, I had a hard time with this at first and refused to eat the eggs one of my roommates cooked but I finally gave in this morning at ate some. The gelato is amazing. I’ve only had two kinds so far- chocolate and straciatalle, but both were delicious. Surprisingly, chocolate is my favorite so far, and I hate chocolate ice cream from home.
Bars in Italy are also referred to as Cafés- so they have both alcohol and coffee type of drinks. People here take eating and drinking coffee very seriously because it is when they socialize. Meals may last for hours and the waiter will really only come to you when ask for them, and in most places you must ask for the check yourself. A kind of plus is that you do not have to tip as it is included in the price of the food.
That’s really all I can think of right now about Italian culture and it’s people. Torino is beautiful and located right next to the Po river (Fiume Po in Italian) and I’m already falling in love with it and the Italian lifestyle- although I don’t understand how Italians are not exhausted all the time because of all the walking they do around the town/how late they stay out every night of the week. My roommates and I take short naps everyday to maintain our energy. If New York is the city that never sleeps, I think Italy should be the country that never sleeps.
I’m going to Florence this coming weekend so I may post sometime next week about that! There was an earthquake that affected an area in between here and Florence though, so hopefully it doesn’t mess up my travel plans. Until Next time… Caio!
