Good Italian restaurants provide spaghetti-stain spray or talcum powder. I splattered, powdered, and, moments later...
...shook it off...and was stain free. Buon appetito.
I've meet countless Americans having a blast in Italy. Perhaps the happiest were these twins — kicking off middle age like a couple of kids — celebrating their 40th birthday in Rome.
Sciopero is a key word in Italy. It means "strike." You'll find lots of nuisance strikes, generally just 24 hours long. Keep an eye out for signs. This says "train strike": sciopero ferroviario. Knowing this, I made sure to get to my next destination before 9pm, when it was advertised to start.
Here in the town of St. Francis, teens gather to drink beer on the steps of the Roman temple on the main square. For some reason, it seemed to me like good wholesome fun.
Comments
15 Replies to “More Snapshots of My Time in Italy”
Wonderful pictures Rick! I`m just hoping that someday I run into you and get a picture with your arm around my shoulder :)
Always enjoy your pictures! Glad to hear that you have run into lots of Americans still traveling to Europe, If there is a will there is a way!
Love the spaghetti stain remover. You always look so filled with joy when you post pictures, everyone should enjoy their “job” as much as you do.
Good beer is always appropriate in a great venue!
Well said… it`s Rick`s joy and passion for traveling that stirs me. Then you add in his attention to historical facts, occasional philosophizing, and open-minded treatment of the subject matter and that`s why I`m hooked.
Am I the only one who thinks Rick looks a little haggard in these pictures?
Perhaps so, but we`re too polite to mention
Interesting that you find teens drinking beer “good wholesome fun”.
It does sound strange to call it that, but then there`s no minimum drinking age in Italy and we don`t know exactly how old these “teens” are (19?). Furthermore, one`s interpretation of the event should be swayed by the demeanor of the group. For example, teens raising hell while drinking = clearly bad. Law abiding teens, quietly drinking, having a nice time, knowing their limit, and cleaning up after themselves = possibly wholesome fun.
I think the more taboo you make it the more kids will be determined to go the extreme when trying it. Steve Rick Steves = the Moderate (I like this guy lol)
Rick doesn`t look `haggard`….. he looks hammered! LOL!
Rick, Though unrelated to your blog, I just wanted to take this opportunity to express my condolences on the loss of your friend and mentor, Osama Bin Laden. I now realize, like you have been telling us for so long, that the US is (always) wrong and this is just another atrocity we`ve committed. Anyway, I hope you find peace in this matter.
Z, I don`t like Rick`s political views, but you comment is just uncalled for and childish. The only thing you`ve managed to accomplish is lowering yourself to that which you dislike most. You want to confront him? You would be more effective educating yourself and addressing him with a well thought out and relevant question. IE. Rick, I am appalled at your insensitivity towards the mineral Talc(talcum powder), which was unjustly removed from the ground and shoved in a bottle to aid you in your eating mishaps. Do you think a bill should be passed respecting minerals like zinc and talc from being forcefully removed from their homes and locked up in plastic cells only to be used at our whim? See thoughtful and relevant to this section of the blog and you even get to poke fun at his eating ability. Rick, since you are over in Europe, presently, it would be interesting to read about your experience when Europeans heard the news of osama bin laden death.
IO, I admit I was perhaps out of line, believe it or not I actually enjoy Ricks books and TV programs and have even taken some of his tours. However (whether he is entitled to or not), I have gotten tired of him ramming his opinions down others throats with a “holier than thou” attitude. In regard to what you said, you may find it interesting to know however, that I actually have written Rick once or twice in regard to opinions he expressed that I didn`t agree with. I was polite and simply asked him to elaborate a bit. I also offered politely to in effect, “debate him” on such and such a topic. I was quite courteous in my email. The response to this request was predictable: silence.
I can agree sometimes I do feel he pushes his ideals to much and have been a big proponent of him sticking to travel but I also believe he has every right to say what he please on his website. He owns and he can does as he likes that`s the beauty of our freedom. I can also choose to read it or not. But I do have to give Rick kudos for posting a comment section with a pretty lenient mod/guidlines which allows us to disagree. Thank you for your admission it is rare nowdays that people admit to a mistake and I think it shows a lot of character. With emotions running deeps in the last few years sometimes we need to vent and scream to the masses and Z I think most of us on here want to hear from you whether we agree or not. Because people on this blog are far more tolerant and compassionate than any other blog I`ve seen, we understand. So I hope you continue to comeback and disagree and yell sometimes it does a soul good to get it out. I still wanna hear Rick`s take on Europe`s reaction to OBL I think it will be interesting
Wonderful pictures Rick! I`m just hoping that someday I run into you and get a picture with your arm around my shoulder :)
Always enjoy your pictures! Glad to hear that you have run into lots of Americans still traveling to Europe, If there is a will there is a way!
Love the spaghetti stain remover. You always look so filled with joy when you post pictures, everyone should enjoy their “job” as much as you do.
Good beer is always appropriate in a great venue!
Well said… it`s Rick`s joy and passion for traveling that stirs me. Then you add in his attention to historical facts, occasional philosophizing, and open-minded treatment of the subject matter and that`s why I`m hooked.
Am I the only one who thinks Rick looks a little haggard in these pictures?
Perhaps so, but we`re too polite to mention
Interesting that you find teens drinking beer “good wholesome fun”.
It does sound strange to call it that, but then there`s no minimum drinking age in Italy and we don`t know exactly how old these “teens” are (19?). Furthermore, one`s interpretation of the event should be swayed by the demeanor of the group. For example, teens raising hell while drinking = clearly bad. Law abiding teens, quietly drinking, having a nice time, knowing their limit, and cleaning up after themselves = possibly wholesome fun.
I think the more taboo you make it the more kids will be determined to go the extreme when trying it. Steve Rick Steves = the Moderate (I like this guy lol)
Rick doesn`t look `haggard`….. he looks hammered! LOL!
Rick, Though unrelated to your blog, I just wanted to take this opportunity to express my condolences on the loss of your friend and mentor, Osama Bin Laden. I now realize, like you have been telling us for so long, that the US is (always) wrong and this is just another atrocity we`ve committed. Anyway, I hope you find peace in this matter.
Z, I don`t like Rick`s political views, but you comment is just uncalled for and childish. The only thing you`ve managed to accomplish is lowering yourself to that which you dislike most. You want to confront him? You would be more effective educating yourself and addressing him with a well thought out and relevant question. IE. Rick, I am appalled at your insensitivity towards the mineral Talc(talcum powder), which was unjustly removed from the ground and shoved in a bottle to aid you in your eating mishaps. Do you think a bill should be passed respecting minerals like zinc and talc from being forcefully removed from their homes and locked up in plastic cells only to be used at our whim? See thoughtful and relevant to this section of the blog and you even get to poke fun at his eating ability. Rick, since you are over in Europe, presently, it would be interesting to read about your experience when Europeans heard the news of osama bin laden death.
IO, I admit I was perhaps out of line, believe it or not I actually enjoy Ricks books and TV programs and have even taken some of his tours. However (whether he is entitled to or not), I have gotten tired of him ramming his opinions down others throats with a “holier than thou” attitude. In regard to what you said, you may find it interesting to know however, that I actually have written Rick once or twice in regard to opinions he expressed that I didn`t agree with. I was polite and simply asked him to elaborate a bit. I also offered politely to in effect, “debate him” on such and such a topic. I was quite courteous in my email. The response to this request was predictable: silence.
I can agree sometimes I do feel he pushes his ideals to much and have been a big proponent of him sticking to travel but I also believe he has every right to say what he please on his website. He owns and he can does as he likes that`s the beauty of our freedom. I can also choose to read it or not. But I do have to give Rick kudos for posting a comment section with a pretty lenient mod/guidlines which allows us to disagree. Thank you for your admission it is rare nowdays that people admit to a mistake and I think it shows a lot of character. With emotions running deeps in the last few years sometimes we need to vent and scream to the masses and Z I think most of us on here want to hear from you whether we agree or not. Because people on this blog are far more tolerant and compassionate than any other blog I`ve seen, we understand. So I hope you continue to comeback and disagree and yell sometimes it does a soul good to get it out. I still wanna hear Rick`s take on Europe`s reaction to OBL I think it will be interesting