1. The pedestrian walkways. I am not use to having to just walk and not have a light tell me when to go that counts down on the other side. Some areas do have a little man that turns green when to go and yellow when to hurry and get across and red when to stop, but mostly you are just kinda winging it to scurry across the road at your best judgement to whether or not you are about to get hit by a fast moving white taxi.
2. The architecture. You don't get this in America, anywhere, and nothing is slightly close to what it is here. There is no words that describe the feeling I get in the mornings when I get up and go outside to get some coffee and a croissant, it is the most peaceful, relaxing, content feeling looking around and admiring the colorful buildings, the old vintage looking street signs, the little cafes with chalk boards outside with italian words I can't read, the smell of coffee in the air, that makes me feel so just simply and whole heartedly at peace. It is so special.
3. English Menus. Living in America, it has always been annoying or hard when you are trying to communicate with someone who does not know how to speak English. Well, here in Italy, I am the annoying one. I am the outsider, Americans are the ones who came into their country not knowing how to speak their language. Italian and spanish are not the same, by the way. So even knowing tid bits of spanish really does not do you any good. So when going to eat in a part of a foreign country that is not a super touristy area has been hard, communicating with waiters and shop owners has been very strange, and getting food is not as easy as it is for us in the states because we don't know what the heck the food is that we are getting if it is not in english and if the waiter does not know english. When I see an english menu on the side of a restaurant, I feel comfort. So right now, this is something I appreciate greatly. Hopefully by the end of the trip though I will be able to know more about italian enough to go into these places and order real italian food the real italian way.
4. Credit card machines. SO many places here do not take credit cards. So up until tuesday, I had no way of really getting anything for myself besides basic things and basic meals. Anna and Kate had to spot me a few times when the places we went did not take visa or credit cards in general, or even dollars. I thought I would be find with American money, little did I know, there are not many currency exchange places around here. I went to an ATM to try and get some Euros, but my card would not read right on them, so finally I made myself go to this Exchange place a little bit away when we went shopping and finally got some flipping Euros. So I am so grateful for these now.
5. Water fountains. It is so hot here, so you need to drink tons and tons literal tons of water. Water is not free here, either. It can get pretty pricey for water too. A few euros for a bottle of water is normal, and you pay for water at restaurants, regardless of what kind you get when they ask you if you want "still or sparkling", so there have been some water fountains that have been pretty weird to consider drinking out of at first like a giant public water fountain of a lion with water coming from its mouth in the middle of a huge tourist area that you lean over a sculpture to stretch out and stand on your toes to get the end of your bottle under the water so you can get hydrated is a gift from God. Water fountains you would try to avoid really in the states, well at least I do, so here I was like wait whaaat, is that safe? Can you get sick from that? and the answer is yes it is safe, and no you can not get sick from that. It is actually better probably than water from the water bottles. Kate's words, too.
So these are just five of the many things I already appreciate, but the funniest and most random ones for sure. I can't wait to post more of these little things I am grateful for later!
ciao ppl