Monday 4 April 2011

Updates from on the road.

Me and Susan have decided to start trying to slow the pace a bit. Obviously we want to see as much as possible but our current pace has been a bit much. The upside to this is that we might actually have time to write occasional posts to Colin's blog. We also have reliable electricity now, and the WIFI has gotten a lot better since we left Spain. Susan did a write up on Barcelona last night, that I will post shortly.

I had my first pizza in Italy yesterday. It was magical.

The language thing is working out well. It turns out that Susan speaks good enough French to get by, so I didn't have to call Jay to ask for help. My Italian lessons through Rosetta Stone have helped a bit, and I'm picking it up as I go along.

We have had some trouble dodging tourist traps so far. Barcelona was more of a tourist black hole. We are hoping that things clear up a bit as we move away from Venice and into slightly more obscure cities. Next up is Modena.

I'll end with a point of interest. The old stereotype that French people are rude seems a bit flipped on it's head to us. Everybody in France was really patient with the language barrier and all around friendly. Italian's on the other hand... Jesus. If you walk into an Italian shop, hope for a female attendant. The Italian male is the most aggressive beast on this planet. I have posted a pic of a typical Italian shopkeeper:

3 comments:

Jabbles said...

I know you have very little interest but Modena is the home of Ferrari. I request at least on pic if you see one.
Sucks about the rudeness, hope the smaller towns are better.

Colin Young said...

Hey, glad to hear that you guys are okay and having fun. Glad you were able to get an adapter to finally get your equipment charged up. Are you finding the phone useful as a mobile translation device?

Anonymous said...

In Modena now, but haven't seen a single Ferrari or Lambo. Maybe it's considered takky or something? Tonnes of Alphas though.
Actually the charger size changed when we got to Italy and we are yet to find another solution. Going to run out of juice very soon.
Phone as translator works great, but I'm worried that it's going to be a big bill when I get home since it only translates with data service.