More ‘observations’ from Florence today Observations 1-5 can be found here. 6-10 are here.
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11. Can’t get up in the morning? Always sleeping through your alarm? Don’t worry! Florence’s bin lorries arrive promptly at 6.30AM. Just to make sure you’re fully awake, all bins are banged repeatedly on top of the lorry.
12. An Italian walking towards you has a 75% chance of walking into you. An Italian walking towards you while looking at a phone has a 100% chance of walking into you. After all, didn’t you know his day was more important than yours?
13. If you can’t think of a word, just say ‘prego’ in a really exaggerated way. It might be right.
14. Taking your dog into shops, supermarkets, pizzerias, hairdressers and bars is completely fine.
15. It took me a few days to realise this, but Starbucks don’t have their horrible tentacles here. Long may that continue.
16. Surprisingly, ‘gluten free’ is a big thing here. Don’t come though if you’re vegan, or allergic to dairy.
17. Payment terms for everything are relaxed. “You pay when you like,” is the Italian philosophy. You almost have to hunt people down to pay. It isn’t how I would run things, but it’s nice to be on the receiving end of that level of trust.
18. If you go to a football game and a drunk guy appears nearby clutching a megaphone, you need to move seats.
