Well let's face it. Nowhere is perfect, it is just some places are better than others. Henry and I made the decision to "live" Rome for one reason only at first ... we felt it had enough to entertain us for awhile. It doesn't matter where in the world, Rome probably has the most treasures, the most history and the most to see of anywhere in the world. If not, I'd love to hear where else. Having said that, to everything there is a Good, Bad and Ugly. I'm not going to start with Good because I want to end there. I am loving every minute of every day and I wouldn't want to leave the wrong impression.... but to every coin, and I've seen a few of them here, there is a bad side. Let's start with Ugly, the worst of the best....
The UGLY!.. Now Henry and I don't use transit on a regular basis at home although, in my opinion, we should. Having said that there is nothing worse in the world (Kim may think otherwise because she lives it everyday too!)...... the SMELLs of people. Unfortunately, on our bus the other day was a fellow who had not bathed, I'm sure, since Julius Ceasar was assassinated just around the corner from us. We held our breaths as long as possible, discreetly held Kleenexes over our noses and averted our faces. Also, we are allergic. I know, everybody over 45 is allergic. Why is it then that some women (and men too) insist on using those "powdery" "flowery" smelling perfumes. I can only imagine what was going on under Marie Antoinette's skirts and through her hair.... ugh. It is very painful. And sometimes, although we always try to avoid rush hours, the bus is soooooo cramped that I don't need to hold on cause there's no way on earth I'm going to be able to fall to the ground as the driver jerks, stops and charges at pedestrians...
The BAD!... Those who have travelled all over the world know that the politest people in the world live in North America. Canadians are known as being ultra-Polite (stupidly polite) and the Americans are known as ultra-Service orientated. I don't want to criticize the Europeans because I LOVE THEM!... I love their aloofness and most importantly, I feel, they treat everybody equally. Equally meaning "JUST AS BAD". No discrimination here. Take for example, we were at our local Despar (they should change the name it sounds just a little "desperate" and "disparaging"). We are in line and there are three people in front of us and three behind. The store is small, and we are all cramped with our purchases. We all adjust, clamp our arms close to our bodies and hold on. Well, it turns out that the cashier is thirsty. We are thirsty too! Instead of tallying up our purchases and then taking care of his thirst, he shuts his till. He goes over to bottled water department, selects his water, goes over to the other checkout (miracle in this case, two checkouts!), interrupts her line up, purchases HIS bottle of water and then casually, slowly after taking a drink, and importantly, re-opens his till to serve us! Or how about this one, Henry is in his favourite Cortinetti place (Croissant to most)... He waits in line and the clerk selects the woman behind him. That was really unsettling to him. He's changed Cortinetti places. I say BRAVO! Now this isn't tourist stuff, this is daily life in Roma.
The GOOD!.. There is good. I love our location. I love that when we go out the door we can go North, South, East and West and see something different. I Love that I feel comfortable out at night - people all over the place. I love that the stores are open late (weird hours), I love the smells (other than while on the bus) I love the activity and I LOVE BEING A ROMAN.... I know that's funny, I'm only a temporary but I feel real! I'm starting to scorn the tourists! People are starting NOT to offer to sell me something. Everywhere we go there are new discoveries. A store we didn't notice that actually was a store!.. Something that looks so small goes around and around and around. They use space sooo well. We LOVE VEAL! Henry loves his daily CAPPUCCINO! (me, not sooo much). WE LOVE POMODORI (oh sorry I already mentioned that).
Well I know there are more GOOD BAD AND UGLIES but enough for now. Ciao and wherever you are appreciate that you are close to the family you love. That's all that's important no matter where you are!
The UGLY!.. Now Henry and I don't use transit on a regular basis at home although, in my opinion, we should. Having said that there is nothing worse in the world (Kim may think otherwise because she lives it everyday too!)...... the SMELLs of people. Unfortunately, on our bus the other day was a fellow who had not bathed, I'm sure, since Julius Ceasar was assassinated just around the corner from us. We held our breaths as long as possible, discreetly held Kleenexes over our noses and averted our faces. Also, we are allergic. I know, everybody over 45 is allergic. Why is it then that some women (and men too) insist on using those "powdery" "flowery" smelling perfumes. I can only imagine what was going on under Marie Antoinette's skirts and through her hair.... ugh. It is very painful. And sometimes, although we always try to avoid rush hours, the bus is soooooo cramped that I don't need to hold on cause there's no way on earth I'm going to be able to fall to the ground as the driver jerks, stops and charges at pedestrians...
The BAD!... Those who have travelled all over the world know that the politest people in the world live in North America. Canadians are known as being ultra-Polite (stupidly polite) and the Americans are known as ultra-Service orientated. I don't want to criticize the Europeans because I LOVE THEM!... I love their aloofness and most importantly, I feel, they treat everybody equally. Equally meaning "JUST AS BAD". No discrimination here. Take for example, we were at our local Despar (they should change the name it sounds just a little "desperate" and "disparaging"). We are in line and there are three people in front of us and three behind. The store is small, and we are all cramped with our purchases. We all adjust, clamp our arms close to our bodies and hold on. Well, it turns out that the cashier is thirsty. We are thirsty too! Instead of tallying up our purchases and then taking care of his thirst, he shuts his till. He goes over to bottled water department, selects his water, goes over to the other checkout (miracle in this case, two checkouts!), interrupts her line up, purchases HIS bottle of water and then casually, slowly after taking a drink, and importantly, re-opens his till to serve us! Or how about this one, Henry is in his favourite Cortinetti place (Croissant to most)... He waits in line and the clerk selects the woman behind him. That was really unsettling to him. He's changed Cortinetti places. I say BRAVO! Now this isn't tourist stuff, this is daily life in Roma.
The GOOD!.. There is good. I love our location. I love that when we go out the door we can go North, South, East and West and see something different. I Love that I feel comfortable out at night - people all over the place. I love that the stores are open late (weird hours), I love the smells (other than while on the bus) I love the activity and I LOVE BEING A ROMAN.... I know that's funny, I'm only a temporary but I feel real! I'm starting to scorn the tourists! People are starting NOT to offer to sell me something. Everywhere we go there are new discoveries. A store we didn't notice that actually was a store!.. Something that looks so small goes around and around and around. They use space sooo well. We LOVE VEAL! Henry loves his daily CAPPUCCINO! (me, not sooo much). WE LOVE POMODORI (oh sorry I already mentioned that).
Well I know there are more GOOD BAD AND UGLIES but enough for now. Ciao and wherever you are appreciate that you are close to the family you love. That's all that's important no matter where you are!
