Culture shock 1- In my 20's my tour guide told the girls on our trip not to go on a date with a man if they asked you out because they would want to marry you and bring you back to Italy! She was right! I didn't listen and was asked out in the Firenze market. The young man took me to the top of a beautiful hill to see all the lights of the city. Then he asked me if I wanted to see his apartment. I thought, Wow, that would be so cool to see the inside of an Italian apartment. Of course I hadn't told anyone on the tour where I was going and who I was with. His apartment had marble floors. I felt so happy that I got to see an Italian apartment, and yes, my tour guide was right. He did talk about marriage! About 1 AM I told him I wanted to go back to the hotel. If you can you believe it, he took me back - nothing happened - thank God. And I mean it.
Culture shock 2 - Before going to Italy everyone knew that the men liked to pinch the women. All the girls on the trip were waiting for a pinch. Who should get the coveted pinch? Not the attractive skinny girls but the heavy girl - because she had something to pinch - we didn't. I saw it happen! The skinny girls were so jealous.
Culture shock 3 - 15 yrs later I was back in Rome at the Trevi fountain. A young man asked me if I would like to see the Italian countryside. Wow. That would be fun. Again, no one on my tour group knew where I was. The fellow said he was taking me on the Apian Way to Ostia but I thought he said Austria. I said, I don't want to go to Austria. Then he stopped the car at a field lined by bushes. We walked through the bushes. Only then did I figure out that he had no good on his mind. I ran back to the car and said, take me to the hotel, I have to meet the people on my tour for dinner. While he was driving I had my hand on the door handle, ready to jump out at any moment. He dropped me off at the top of the Spanish steps and I ran back to the hotel in time to meet the group - thanking God again. The Lord must have wondered, how naive can this girl be.
Culture shock 4 - I needed to take a bus in Rome. I waited, saw my bus coming, was in line but wasn't fast enough to get on the bus and it left without me. What happened? I waited again and saw my bus coming. No way was I going to be left behind by the second bus. I raced up the steps and tripped, now lying on the steps of the bus. Not only are the men fast, but also the buses.
Culture shock 5 - You had to be a mathematician to ride the bus or buy a souvenir. Items cost thousands of lire.
Culture shock 6 - My 2 girlfriends and I were at a restaurant overlooking Lake Lugano. We wanted to split a pizza 3 ways. The waiter came and said, No - not one pizza, 3 pizza's. We said, No - not 3 pizza's, one pizza. Finally, he caved and brought us only one pizza and only one napkin and only one set of silverware. So we took the one napkin and dramatically tore it into 3's. Italians also put strange things on pizza's, like eggs. Who ever heard of putting an egg on a pizza!
Culture shock 7 - In Venice we were on a gondola anticipating a romantic ride along the canal. Yes, next to floating orange peels and other debris. (Two years ago it was much cleaner.)
Culture shock 8 - I asked my tour guide for a restroom and was taken to a hole in the ground. I thought Venice was more civilized. Nothing to sit on, just had to squat but what would I have done without a hole in the ground? So that's why we were supposed to carry toilet paper.
Culture shock 9 - At dinner we were served spaghetti - and lots of it. I ate it all only to find out that the spaghetti was merely the 1st course! I was shocked. Here comes the waitress with the main course - veal scallopini. After eating so much spaghetti to start the meal, no wonder the men find something to pinch.
Our farewell dinner was at the Tivoli Gardens - such a beautiful place. Looking out over the gardens, there were multitudes of fireflies. I've never seen so many little lights flickering all around, so magical. We sat on the veranda eating with lots of wine. Never having had any wine, I didn’t know how it would affect me. After only a little, I found myself laughing and laughing. Perhaps, it was because I was just so relieved that I wasn't still on the Apian Way going to Ostia or Austria but had made it back in time for dinner at the Tivoli Gardens.