Italy, the good the bad the ugly

First of all i want to wish everybody good luck at the dressage show this weekend! you guys are going to be great. As you say in italian "in bocca al lupo" (in the mouth of the wolf).

Italy is beautiful. I went to venice this weekend, expecting to be disappointed, but it really does live up to the myth. Italian people are also beautiful. Its not just a stereotype that italians are well dressed and elegant. Italians spend more money per capita on clothing than any other country, and it shows. Italians frequently stop into stores every week and buy a new shirt or a scarf or a purse. Appearances really do matter. Last week my host mom invited her boss over for dinner at our house. When my host mom told me that her boss was coming i asked if she liked him. Her response was "physically, no. Hes a very short and ugly man." Then i replied, "but you like him as a boss?". And she said "oh yes certainly". Even the word for nice "carino" also means cute or pretty.

Now for some ugly: italians making out in public. Italians seem to be much more cool about PDA than americans. It's pretty common to see a couple full on making out and groping each other on the street. Furthermore, the italian definition of making out tends to be more broad then ours. Kissing is not meant just for the lips, lips and tongue tend to travel towards the chin and cheek region. Its basically a full face workout. Another ugly thing: italian toilets. When you go into a public bathroom theres something missing, and its not just soap and paper towels. Theres no toilet seats! Maybe thats how italian women have nice legs even though they never go to the gym. One of the grossest toilets i have encountered thus far was at the train station in perugia a week ago coming back from the chocolate festival (: A friend and i decided to try our luck across the street at the mcdonalds, which turned out to be one of the nicest bathrooms ive found in all of italy. Go figure.