More Notes from the Cheap Seats

The Italian Toilet Adventures! - This one may not be for the faint of heart, but those of you that know me are aware that my boundaries on subject matter can be vast :>)
I noticed that within a couple of days of arrival, and my father mentioned it right away “What’s the deal with Italian toilets?” There are several things that are strange about the old “commode” here in Italia.

First we will begin with the seat. For those ladies that complain about us guys leaving it up, nothing to complain about here as I would estimate that at least half of the public facilities don’t have them at all! Those that do, often times have them sitting on the ground, detached from the toilet itself. There’s something not quite right about having to pick up a toilet seat off a gas station floor!

Next is the flushing mechanism. One thing that they do right here is provide you with two options (Based upon whether you are getting rid of number one or number two!). However there is often an additional option provided to us flushers that can aid in the confusion. In many restaurant bathrooms there is a long cord hanging from a box in the wall. This cord has been confused by yours truly as well as my father as the means for dispensing all that is in the bowl. Think again, when this cord is pulled, expect to hear the sounds of a very loud alarm bell in the dining room! This cord is for emergency purposes only. Apparently using the facilities in Italy comes with significant risk of casualty! Nothing like sounding off a bell to let all those that are dining know that you needed some time alone!

Lastly is the need for a brush! OK, even “I” won’t go into detail on this one, but lets just say that the bowl brush is needed here A LOT due a preponderance of skid marks! Something about the way the toilets are constructed. They even have them in public bathrooms!

When It comes to Working Out – Italians are pathetic! I have not been a member of a gym in nearly 20 years, so maybe things are the same back home, but man there are a lot of bullshitters at the gym and very few that actually come to take care of business. Anna and I often laugh at the common site of seeing an Italian come in, jump on the tread mill for three to five minutes, then move to the exercise bike for the same period of time and then spend thirty minutes doing four sets of leg presses and calling it a day! Oh actually, I forgot. The day isn’t over till you’ve had a smoke!
Case in point…One day I was in my own usual little world with the IPod on and trying to return to the glory days of benching over 200 pounds when I decided to ask for help. Close to me was a “Thick” gentleman named Allesandro (To call him buff would be unfair to those that actually are). After he spotted me on the bench we got to talking for a moment and it turns out that he is a football player. By football I mean “Our” kind of football. It seems that Florence has a pro football team and Allesandro plays both center and nose guard (Its nine man football). Following our pleasant discussion and his invitation for Trey and I to come to a game, I continued my workout. When I was done I headed for the parking lot to ride the motorino home. When I glanced off to the side, there was my boy Allesandro, sitting on the curb smoking a cigarette! Ah, now that’s the way to finish a workout :>)

There’s Pizza and then There’s Pizza! –
OK, first a little history. Contrary to popular opinion in Croatia, Pizza was not invented there and should not be in the same dining room with a bottle of ketchup! Seriously though, it was invented in Naples Italy and those that have been to Napoli know that you don’t go to Naples and miss the opportunity to have a pizza (We visited Nalpes five years ago for one day and had the best pizza of our lives). Well, our friend Alex, told us of an unassuming little place outside of the city center called Santa Lucia. The owners are from Naples and rumor has it that they have all spent some time behind bars are one time of another! (Alex would know as her father is the chief of police of Florence). Whether they have or not is besides the point because they make the best pizza we have had since our visit to Napoli. On the menu are no less than thirty different pies that you can order, but for mine and Anna’s taste there is no reason to look further than the pizza with tomato sauce, mozzarella, fresh tomatoes, olives and the key ingredient Fresh Ricotta Cheese! Drizzle a little olive oil on top when it arrives and you have a pie straight from the pearly gates of heaven. We ate there twice with my mom and dad when they were here. My mom won’t argue these claims of pizza supremacy. The only downer is that all other pizza in Florence and beyond pales so far in comparison, its hardly worth ordering it anywhere else.