I haven’t had an awesome experience or cooked anything that will impress anyone of late, however, I do have a few things I would like to talk about, one that ventures on the gross side. It is a side of Italy (and sadly I cannot contain it to just Florence) I didn’t really want to know about.
In the six months we have been living in Italy I have loved showing off the beauty this country has to offer on my blog; the wonderful walks in the hills, the historic city centres and not to mention the brilliant Italian cuisine. We decided before we came to Italy that we would go without a car for our year abroad. It didn’t make sense to buy/loan a car for the year and then stress about selling it back when we headed back home to Oz. All in all I am enjoying the long walks we take to get around the city of Florence and the continual exercise it provides the family and I. However, being on foot and walking the ‘hood’ has also shown me another side of Italy that I really am amazed at. I have been thinking this for a while but it wasn’t until Max, my older son brought it up on one of our walks to his basket ball training (a 20 min walk at a quick pace) last week.
“Geez mum, I can’t believe how much vomit there is in Italy!”
And there you have it, I said the V word. The reason Max bought it up was because we all just about ran into each other as we rounded a corner and nearly stepped in a fresh patch- YUCK!
You might think, hang on a bit luv I’m not sure this is blog worthy…but let me tell you it is all about the good, bad and the ugly. I’m kinda sick to death of walking around and looking down, especially when this country has so many beautiful sights to look at. You HAVE to look DOWN because there is so much dog shit on the roads and footpaths that it then spreads, that’s right, once someone steps in it, it gets spread even further so walking in a straight line can sometimes be impossible because you are avoiding the dog shit…then the dog shit smear and if your unlucky enough the pile of V at the end of the path! I wish I was carrying on like a pork chop and really hyping it up for you readers but lately I’ve gotta say it is getting worse. I mean the kids are mentioning it!
I am sure I am not alone on this subject? Actually I know I am not when it comes to the dog poop because I saw my 80+ year old neighbour walking back from her daily shopping trip the other day with her walking stick up in the air waving about and her buggy stuck in something; she was going ballistic at a lady near her and guess what she was ranting about?…Dog poop! If I had better Italian I would of gone over to her and said ‘I know it’s horrible but just be careful at the turn in the road because someone just lost their lunch on the curb!’
I know it isn’t the best subject to talk about but one that is on my mind and thankfully not yet on my shoe…sadly I can’t say the same for Alex!
Italy Take Two 
Our local council has just placed fresh rock down for a partial seal on our track/road. For some reason the local strays love it and the amount of doggie do do out the front of our house is huge (as is the do do).
What where you step!
As a dog owner doesn’t it annoy you? Or is it just me? The big firm ones I’m ok with, it’s the sloppy ones I have trouble with lol
You make me laugh. All the poop upsets me all the time. I brought 10 packets of poopy bags with me (enough for 1000 poops) and I pick them up every time. You should see the shocked look on the locals faces when I pick it up! I’m already that weird English woman now I’m that weird English woman that collects doggy poop.
Ha, haa! Love it…..weirdo! Maybe I should start picking it up too bad then I’d give them more to talk about 🙂
It is one of the things that pisses me off the most about this country.
It literally has gone to the dogs
When we first got here max stepped in a really wet sloppy one and I just threw the trainers in the park bin in a huge rant and everyone in the town we lived talked about it behind my back for weeks. A month later a friend told me they had been.
I explained the trainers were old and new cost about 10euro and that seriously??? What was I supposed to do???
The loon wasn’t me. It was all these Italians accepting the situation.
It’s disgusting. Like the bad parking. Like the inability to queue. Etc etc
I hear you, I just don’t get it? They are so house proud but step out the door and who cares? It must piss the people off who actually DO pick up the poo!
Yep. I don’t get it either. Makes me sad. And angry. So angry.
Ditto
I am one of those dog walkers who always has a bag. We live on a cove, so I don’t get too many dogs in my yard, but I would never leave my dogs (an they are tiny!) for someone else to pick up. My last trip to Italy, I was saddened at the trash. We were at an old fountain in the countryside, and everywhere you looked were cups, papers, cigarette butts, so much filth. I hate that!
Yes, sadly it is still the same in some places, trash, poop,V 😦
Have just been for my early morning walk in Tassie……..came across about 5 dogs and their owners and they all had poop in little bags! There is also a bin at each end of the park to pop it in. Oh they also have the bags free on a roll out thingy! If you are caught in Tassie it is a BIG fine.
You might want to bring a few of those bags with you!! They could learn a few things from Tassie
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Florence has been particularly ‘poopy’ lately, great great post. I have actually been walking in the streets to avoid both vomit & really (large) dog poop. sigh..
I asked an Italian friend of mine why?, he looked at me and said “maybe it’s the weather, hot, cold, hot. It just happens!”…I don’t get it?
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only the dogs know! 😉
Good one! 🙂
only the dogs know! 😉
If I have never read this, I will never know. Most people travel to Italy and wow at her beautiful scenery and talk about the great food there. I love Italian food by the way. But I have never heard anything about the floor. Sounds disgusting indeed.
I know, it’s not something I want to talk about but I have reached my limit with it!
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Yuck! Definitely not a side of Italy I’d considered. But see how much more detailed a look you can have at a country when you go by foot? I’m sure you’ll never drive again for fear of missing a patch of vomit 😉 .
Hope your foot stays clean. Poor Alex…
So true, I do love walking more than driving esp. when Florence is so small but it does have its drawbacks!
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Too long ago fro me to remember this but it is revolting, both the poop an d vomit. Does this mean you have to walk with eyes on ground!!! I remember spitting in China, just as bad!
Spitting here is almost as bad as the poop and vomit but not as much
Ciao BI, I think its much the same all over the world but particularly in cities and towns. The Italian men are mostly to blame in Italy and the culture is too relaxed over things like dog poo, vomit, spitting, peeing in public and chewing gum spat on the pavement. Whilst some of my best friends are Italian, they are mostly from the educated sector, which probably makes up less than 20% of the population. It is generally the unsophisticated lot who are so uncaring, however, this is actually the same throughout southern Europe!
We ran into the dog poo problem when we were in Portugal. It was everywhere! And I never saw a stray dog so I know it was owners being lazy. On the other hand, here in Thailand, there are a massive amount of stray dogs and rarely do I see dog poop laying around. I don’t know why that is.
Also… Yuck! Vomit… I cannot even imagine
Yes, it’s disgusting, isn’t it?? I’ve also written about the Italian dog poo problem because it annoys me so much. If I’m out with the kids, I have to keep shouting, ‘Watch out! Poo! There! And there!! Another one!!’ Agghh!
Oh I hear you! I’m going to appreciate the poo free streets of Sydney when I go home that’s for sure. Thanks for stopping by
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