say something about ... yourself!

[ShadowsWithin]

naw i was trying to avoid things like that as much as possible, i can unerstand people being up front if I don't speak italian, I tried to as much as possible, now my group probably got a lot of flak because they didn't really try.

I was talking more about the street vendors and the taxi station at the vatican trying to rip people off like a mo-fo 26 euro to go back to our hotel so we said no thanks and he called us ass holes, we go up a block and get a taxi...9.60 to get back.

also the waiter at our hotel ignored us most of the time, i thought it was because we were american but he was all over this other table full of american, we were sitting there for like half an hour before we got annoyed and asked him to get the check. And we found out thats a pattern as well, they are content with letting you sit there for a while before getting it.

it was getting really busy at one resturant and instead of getting us the check and freeing up 8 spaces they just sit there and got annoyed at us because they had to squeeze people in.

I could totally see how venice could be dull, its all fucking harlequin shops and tourist. we wen't to a resturant near san marco that was awesome though we had our food hot within 10 minutes and it was mmmmmm.

 

[El Stormo]

Woops, my mistake! I meant Pullo and Vorinius (SP?).

Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo

And yeah, good news about HBO working on Rome again. That series was fucking awesome (with emphasis on "fucking")

 

[Dead Winter]

naw i was trying to avoid things like that as much as possible, i can unerstand people being up front if I don't speak italian, I tried to as much as possible, now my group probably got a lot of flak because they didn't really try.

I was talking more about the street vendors and the taxi station at the vatican trying to rip people off like a mo-fo 26 euro to go back to our hotel so we said no thanks and he called us ass holes, we go up a block and get a taxi...9.60 to get back.

also the waiter at our hotel ignored us most of the time, i thought it was because we were american but he was all over this other table full of american, we were sitting there for like half an hour before we got annoyed and asked him to get the check. And we found out thats a pattern as well, they are content with letting you sit there for a while before getting it.

it was getting really busy at one resturant and instead of getting us the check and freeing up 8 spaces they just sit there and got annoyed at us because they had to squeeze people in.

I could totally see how venice could be dull, its all fucking harlequin shops and tourist. we wen't to a resturant near san marco that was awesome though we had our food hot within 10 minutes and it was mmmmmm.

Everything in the south is done much slower and at a much more relaxed pace. Everything in the north is faster and more impersonal.

Eating in Italy is a pleasure, not a way to just fill your stomach. If you're in Rome and you're eating out, you should expect to be there for at least two hours. Most people drink at least two drinks and have a few appetizers before eating any sort of meal, and that can last even up to an hour before the first dish. I've eaten for five hours before.

They've never been known for great service...that's just not something they do well. Here you have to ask for what you want. Again, they're not going to constantly check up on you because to people here that's annoying. Whenever you go into shops you may get greeted and you may not, that's just how it is here. Again, these are just things you learn as you go; you couldn't have possibly known this on your first trip, which is why traveling as often as you can is so important. Also, a cruise tour isn't the best way to really see a place...it's probably the worst.

If you ever return you'll know what to do and you'll probably have a different point of view by then. You'll know that if you want something you have to ask for it, and you'll also know how to eat. You'll know how to interact and you'll know what to expect. The taxi thing is everywhere...also, when people say something to you that's rude, you should fire right back at them and put them in their place. That's the good thing about knowing the language. Italians are just big pussies and if you can put them in their place when they get out of line, they'll eat out of your hand.

In the US, everything is super-efficient, usually at the expense of quality. It's the opposite here. When you go out to eat in the US, your waiter is supposed to put on a fake smile and basically be your servant, constantly check on you, give you your pre-made food quickly, you wolf it down, have a few drinks, and leave. That's not how it's done here. It annoys me too sometimes but there's a big difference in the food between the north and the south. If you didn't see that, you went to all the wrong places in Rome.

 

[ShadowsWithin]

Yeah i'm glad we didn't go on the cruse we probably would have got owned, we figured it out after a night or two that they expect people to just take their time at meals, we just weren't used to it and we must have went to the wrong resturants because the quality was the same where we wen't, whether it be Venice or Rome. I told everyone to avoid big expensive busy places because the food was probably better at some smaller resturant on a side street, you could just kind of tell, especially since we wen't to one in pretty much an alley and got excellent lasagna on the first day.

 

[Det Som Engang Var]

Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo

And yeah, good news about HBO working on Rome again. That series was fucking awesome (with emphasis on "fucking")

Do you think it's really going to happen, then?

 

[El Stormo]

we were sitting there for like half an hour before we got annoyed and asked him to get the check. And we found out thats a pattern as well, they are content with letting you sit there for a while before getting it.

That's actually pretty normal in Europe. If a waiter brought me the check without my asking for it, I'd consider it extremely rude and inhospitable, as if he said, "here's your check, we want your money and we want you out".

In Europe, it's actually rude to stay at your table for half an hour after you're done eating and not ask for the check, because then you're taking up space at the restaurant where other people could sit, because then you're abusing their hospitality.

It's a cultural misunderstanding thing, I'm afraid.

Do you think it's really going to happen, then?

I don't know, didn't look into it. I hope so though

 

[Dead Winter]

Yeah i'm glad we didn't go on the cruse we probably would have got owned, we figured it out after a night or two that they expect people to just take their time at meals, we just weren't used to it and we must have went to the wrong resturants because the quality was the same where we wen't, whether it be Venice or Rome. I told everyone to avoid big expensive busy places because the food was probably better at some smaller resturant on a side street, you could just kind of tell, especially since we wen't to one in pretty much an alley and got excellent lasagna on the first day.

You went there with the right attitude my friend. Glad you had a good time. You're also right about the food; food is not expensive at all in Italy unless it's some high-class wank restaurant that no one goes to but celebrities. The trick is to go where the locals are eating.

Stormo's right; it was your very first time and there will undoubtably be misunderstandings for each other's culture. Keep traveling man!

 

[El Stormo]

I'll say one thing about Italians though:

Damn dagoes need to learn to speak more than one language!

 

[Dead Winter]

Yes they do. It's not so bad here but in the south it's horrendous.

 

[El Stormo]

I mean, even carabinieri who travel as bodyguards to a politician, who spend most of their time in other countries, dealing with police forces from all over Europe and the rest if the world, only know Italian! And then when you arrive for the weapons transaction, and you ask, "Nederlands, Français, English, Deutsch?" they can only give you a stupid look and go, "parle Italiano?"

Stupid fucking morons.

 

[Det Som Engang Var]

How much of Italy look like light skinned white folk as opposed to the modern tanned Italian?

 

[El Stormo]

How much of Italy look like light skinned white folk as opposed to the modern tanned Italian?

Haha, what a strange question.

I think most Italians have Medditerranean skin tones.

 

[ShadowsWithin]

Yes they do. It's not so bad here but in the south it's horrendous.

hehe we had a hotel manager that was french, we had one couple come up he started speaking french to them to switched to another couple that were italian and he started speaking Italian to them (and he sounded like he could pass for a native as far as i could tell). then we came up and he switched to english and he was actual quite articulate and we could understand him quite easily. We just started clapping and he was confused so we told him we were impressed

also anyone else notice in their italian excursions that the French assholes to them? we were in the Sistine chapel and this one guy snapped a photo on his iPhone. So the guards came over and started talking to him in french and the guy argued with them till they eventually threw him out. Then in Doje's palace some french lady was pissed off cause she couldn't exit out the front door (which was packed with people) and the guard told her to go across the courtyard to the exit but she kept yelling at them in French and kept trying to push past them. it was fucking retarded.

 

[Dead_Lioness]

Well, there's also a big misconception. People here are extremely up-front and as Americans we're not really used to people not saying "excuse me" for everything they do and that comes off as being assholes. Formalities have little use here.

hah, same exactly as in Israel. I try to explain that to people all the time
ahhhh Med countries!

 

[El Stormo]

Funny, I have the reverse experience. Americans come across as extremely rude here, because they ask people things without first saying "Hello", or "excuse me". I've lost count of the number of times some American halfwit just came up to me and asked, without a greeting or anything, just bluntly demanding to know in their arrogant tone, "Where's gate so-and-so?", but I still reply the same thing every time: "Not your dog, sir."

We Europeans (including the French, you must have had the assholish minority over there, SW) always politely greet someone, apologize for interrupting him, and only then ask our question. Just blurting it out is just incredibly rude here.

 

[Dead_Lioness]

^ that's strange to hear Stormo... because Americans for the most part are extremely polite

 

[Shpongled]

It's easy to notice the rudeness of all Americans when you're an elite, superior European such as El Stormo.

 

[Det Som Engang Var]

Politeness has always come naturally to me. Probably part of that wretched "nice guy" syndrome I suffer from. Of course, the internet has always been an outlet for me to be a jerk. And if I'm not sober it goes out the window.

 

[Shpongled]

You're an American John... stop kidding yourself, you rude asshole!

 

[Det Som Engang Var]