"The woman who follows the crowd usually goes no further than the crowd. The woman who walks alone is likely to find herself in places no one has ever been before." - Albert Einstein
Italy
During my spring break, I was fortunate enough to be able to travel to Florence, Rome and Venice. Obviously, the comparisons between the cultures are generalizations, but these are some of the things I noticed!
The picture above is the view from the top of the Duomo in Florence.
The picture above is the view from the top of the Duomo in Florence.
The Italians- You can walk out into the middle of traffic and the cars have to stop. In the US, and most other countries, you have to stop and wait for the cars to slow down. Italians really take charge of the city and just head into the street.
- Italian drivers don't always stop at red lights - SO SLOW. Everything is slow paced. Eating, walking, shopping- everything is much more relaxed. - Restaurants don't make two reservations for the same table in one night. They don't want it to be that you have to leave by a certain time. - Italians don't drink excessively. - Italians don't eat anything that is not fresh. - Italian public schools guarantee their students the freshest produce. Mostly organic, but always fresh and seasonal. The US public schools will usually value cost over anything else. - Italians love to stare. - Nothing is "to go". - Siestas. Also a big hit in Spain, but the entire city shuts down from around noon to 3pm so that all employees can go home and take naps. This is not a joke. |
The Americans- Try blowing a red light in the US....
- Almost none of our food is "fresh". The US government measures how fresh our food is in terms of "food miles". The average distance food travels to get to the consumer in the US is 1,400 miles. In Italy, its 27 miles. - Staring is rude. - Almost all food can be ordered "to go". - Work is from 9am to 5pm, sometimes even longer. |