CULTURE POST (especially for Aunt Ann and her students :-) )
Transportation in Europe cannot be compared to America in any way shape or form. First off, let’s begin with walking. In NYC at least there are little lights that tell you when to walk and when to stop. Also, if you run across the street and a car is coming, the car will stop. NOT THE CASE in Europe. The streets here are extremely narrow, I believe I’ve mentioned this already but literally you cannot be obese and fit down the sidewalks here you simply won’t fit. Also the sidewalk is all cobblestone and uneven so you constantly have to glance down to make sure you don’t twist your ankle or flat out fall (not joking). So assuming you can fit down the street and the sidewalk is fairly even you have to be careful how/where you cross the street. In the street at selected intersections, not all and not always in the most logical places are these white lines painted on the roads. There are some little walk man traffic lights for pedestrians but not many, so you have to only cross the street on these white lines. The cars will only stop here and at first it’s hard to determine if the cars will actually stop. I had my doubts the first couple weeks and got super nervous every time I crossed the street. However, it's like NYC you just have to get comfortable. Slowly but surely, we are getting used to just walking out in front of flying cars and motorni that slam on their brakes to allow pedestrians to cross the street. However, be warned that they WILL NOT stop if you are not in a white painted line area. Another interesting thing is that the streets appear to be one way but then the following block they switch to a one way in the opposite direction so you never know exactly where to look. In general, I have just accepted that Italy does not really design anything efficiently or logically.
Cars, obviously I do not have much experience because I do not drive a car here and I would never dare to try. However, last weekend we took a cab home from the train station and I began to realize that on the wider roads there are not real lanes. For example if there is a 4 lane high way in the US you like blinker and then move over to the left or right lane slowly. Not here its just kinda a wide street and you can just swerve in any kinda order there are not specific lanes. So weird. Also to get a cab you have to call a cab number and they come and pick you up within a few minutes. Almost all the operators speak English so it works out fine but taxis dont just drive around and you hop in, you have to specifically call for one. The taxis, buses etc here all made my Mercedes, its kinda of strange to ride in a mercedes cab but its Europe so. Also all the cars here are the small smart cars, like all of them. The only trucks I've seen are for construction. Even the garbage trucks I'm pretty sure are small and compressed vehicles. Yesterday I just saw a normal size Jeep, nothing really big just a normal American car. It barely fit down the street and it was completely scratched on both sides, so yes they only drive smart cars and there is a reason. As for parking, that is really limited so a lot of times the cars park half on the sidewalk and half in the road (making it even more difficult to walk down the street).
Buses-The bus system is also an entertaining experience. What you do is buy tickets at little stores called Tabachi, there is not like a bus ticket machine or a bus station. You have to buy it from a Tabachi or a store that displays the bus ticket sign in their door. In Florence at least it costs 1,20 euro to ride the bus. Once you get on the bus there is this little machine where you need to validate the ticket. The machine puts a time and date on your ticket. The ticket is then good for 90 min in case you need to transfer buses or whatever. The weird thing is that randomly someone who works for the bus company or whatever will come around and check everyone's tickets. However, he rarely comes so you can technically just ride the bus for free which a lot of people do but I am too paranoid and it makes me feel uncomfortable to not pay for the bus. The bus also does not stop at every stop along the route like the subway. A little before your stop you press the button to indicate you want to get off at the next stop. Of all things I actually think that is a logical and efficient system. There is no real reason to make every stop if you dont have to. To catch the bus, because it does not make every stop and some stops share multiple bus routes if you see your bus coming you need to stick out your hand (similar to catching a cab). If you dont stick out your hand they'll assume you are waiting for a different bus and they will pass you, they dont care promise. When the bus driver finishes a bus route they often take a break in San Marco, which is the main bus circle in Florence. So you might find your bus in San Marco just chilling and the bus driver just decided to take a break, get a cappuccino, smoke do whatever he feels like. I dont know how often these breaks are, they seem frequent to me but I really dont know but then again its Italy and we relax here and have no real concept of time. I was informed today that the buses actually have a time schedule but I have my doubts on how well they follow them. Also if it rains or snows (which VERY rarely happens here) the bus drivers just dont show up to work so the bus you wait for, just wont ever come. Oh Italy! Because of all this ridiculousness I have been avoiding taking the bus. However, yesterday I took because we were running late because the line to get sandwiches for lunch took longer than anticipated and not having to walk a mile up the hill to campus was so amazing. Today, I felt so tired when I woke up that I decided to take the bus again. It does take forever but it cuts my 2.6 mile walk down to like just a mile to catch the bus and I avoid the hill. I'm trying not be to lazy but it's so much more enjoyable to take the bus and let's be honest I'm not in Italy to lose weight. It'd be nice but definitely not my goal.
Planes-When I flew into Florence, I did not realize how small of an airport it would be. However, everything worked out really well and I did not really notice anything different than our airports. I will be doing a lot more flying throughout the semester so I will update that later.
Trains-Trains in Italy and Europe in general are a really popular method of transportation. Florence has two big train stations so that made getting to Venice last weekend and Rome this weekend nice. However, they really are not that cheap and I anticipated prices to be a lot lower than they are. The trains for the most part were right on time (surprising but amazing). Similar to the bus tickets you need to validate your ticket in this little yellow machine before boarding to indicate the time and date. If you don't you have to pay a fine. For the first train from Florence to Bologna we had specific assigned seats in this tiny 6 person car with 2 rows of three people facing one another. It was second class so there was very limited leg room. On the way there it was fine but on the way back I sat to a "true European" she smelt so bad and for anyone who knows me well, knows that I have the most amazing nose and smell everything. So sitting next to this smelly Italian girl was torture in this little car and I could barely breathe, literally. The second train we took from Bologna to Venice was just how Amtrak kind of is in the US. There weren't really assigned seats you could just sit where ever. Overall though the train ride wasn't bad and sometimes had some really pretty views. I have noticed that McDonalds tend to be around every train station I've been to so far. Naturally I got it on our trip to Venice (between Hard Rock and McD's I was being quite American). They have a sandwich here called CBO (chicken,bacon and onion) I dont know if it's in the US too but it was amazing (well for McDonalds standards).
I MOTORINI- During orientation, I remember the safety guy say "the biggest threat to your safety here is the motorini" I laughed not really believing him. They are like bicycles in NYC but WORST. The bicyclist driving everywhere and threatening pedestrians is also a problem here like NYC but now on top of that there are motorini everywhere. Motorini are what we call Vespas (at least I think they are the same). Because the streets are narrow and there is no real place to park they are definitely the best way to get around. They can zip through cars and in the narrowest allies but they are so dangerous. They come up behind you and they rarely stop for pedestrians even in the white lines. In the rain they all have these leather blanket things to lay in their lap so they dont get wet. Overall I kinda of wish I had one, they are just so dangerous.
So that is the update on Italian transportation. It always makes for an interesting day, no matter which I use after all "it's all about the experience"
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