Random fact #1.

Never simply assume that an adapter you purchase for travel will actually work, and expect that if it fails it will do so spectacularly. Until last Monday I had a pretty cool adapter that would let you plug in multiple devices and should work in Europe (i.e. accept 220 to 240v at 50 hertz) Yeah, not so much. Fortunately when I plugged it in to the wall there wasn’t anything attached to it cause when I did, “POP!” everything went out. Hmm, blown fuse…in a hotel. That can’t be good. After a few minutes of trying to find the fuse box on my own to cover my mistake I decided to go to the desk and fess up. When I got there and explained what was going on it turned out there was another couple already there having the same problem with their power being out in their room. Unfortunately they also spoke English so they had already heard me mention that it may have been me so I couldn’t get away with just saying, “Oh wow, you too? How crazy is that!?” Instead out of sheer embarrassment I apologized. I don’t know how many people I put in the dark but they had it fixed in a few minutes. From now on I’m buying all of my “cool adapters” over here.

Random fact #2.

“American” music is a defined a little more loosely here even for more formal settings. During our first meal at the hotel after the long trip we had dinner to some old hits by Dolly Parton, which wasn’t bad, just unexpected. However, it was the following night when we really got a treat. As we walked into the dining area the candles were lit and there was soft orchestral music playing in the background and we really didn’t think anything of it, but the tune sounded familiar. About half way through the meal (which takes a couple of hours over here, they take food seriously) my brain crammed full of movie stuff recognized the what was playing. It was an orchestra version of, “A dream is a wish the heart makes”, from the Disney film Cinderella (and sadly, no I didn’t have to look it up, I’ll turn in my man card when I get back to the states). It was even funnier when I realized the song I knew I recognized when I came in was “Cruella Deville” from 101 Dalmations. We spent the rest of the dinner figuring out what the songs were. I appreciate their work at making their guests feel at home, they are very kind to do it (it wasn’t just for us obviously). It’s just funny that you can take music from a Disney children’s film and turn it into fine dining music.

(On a side note, even as I sit here a Jazzy vocal version of “I feel the Earth move under my feet” is playing. Funny stuff.)

Random fact #3.

Driving is different, even with the pedestrians. The first thing I realized the minute that we got into the city of Grottaglie is that you have to turn up your situational awareness up a notch or 10. Like other European cities the streets are simply smaller, they also park pretty much anywhere they want to. Thus, the Italians have a pretty highly developed sense of the size of their vehicle relative to their surroundings, including pedestrians. When you’re walking this means “no sudden movements”, it just may screw them up. When you’re driving it means they make the assumption, right or wrong, that the driver’s whizzing by them have that same level of sense of their surroundings so they’ll just stand out in the road a lot further than we would. One of the unexpected things I’ve found is the fact that so far there isn’t a lot of road rage even though aggressive driving seems to be the rule, not the exception. If you have to stop in the middle of the road in town for some reason they will simply go around you instead of sitting there honking or flipping you the bird (unless they can’t get around, but they seem to find a way). Traffic laws also seem to be more guidelines than anything. Stoplights may work the same but when it comes to intersections with stop signs (or better yet yield signs) all bets are pretty much off. Stick your nose out there and get into to traffic cause they simply assume you will and if you don’t they’re ok with that too, cause they’ll take the advantage if you give it to them. To be honest its a little fun, like driving in an obstacle course with moving obstacles. This may change with time though, we’ll see.