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I drove through Naples in the rush hour once, without satnav. It was mad; people suddenly doing three-point turns without warning in moving heavy traffic, roads going from four lanes to two with no lane markings, scooters weaving through, pedestrians stepping into the road without looking, etc., etc. Not sure how I got through unscathed.
I've not been to Rome, but have visited Florence several times. I don't think the crime level is much different from the rest of Europe (though the cities are probably worse) and certainly wouldn't write off all Italians - I found most of them charming and have never been on the receiving end of sharp practice. Their worst fault, I found, was an inability to keep to time, meet deadlines and things like that.
I once performed Verdi's Requiem in San Lorenzo (Florence); it started 40 minutes late, owing to the late arrival of crowds wishing to hear it and some dispute over the number of seats the city's regulations would allow to be placed in the church. The mainly Italian orchestra and choir were pacing about. I said, "Relax, guys - this is Italy", which caused some amusement; however, some came up to me and said how much they hated themselves for this sort of disorganisation, but admitted they just couldn't help it. Apparently, if you want something to start on time, you say it's at 7:30 - English time.
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I don't think the crime level is much different from the rest of Europe (though the cities are probably worse) and certainly wouldn't write off all Italians - I found most of them charming and have never been on the receiving end of sharp practice. Their worst fault, I found, was an inability to keep to time, meet deadlines and things like that.
Apparently, if you want something to start on time, you say it's at 7:30 - English time.
Have to agree.. When I lived in Geneva, we sometimes took the kids down to Turin in the Lotus Eclat...(and it never broke down) Nicely (illegally parked right in front of our favourite restaurant and no chance of a ticket). No problems driving it even with the wheel on the wrong side, as respected as a "sports car"...
I have lived in Europe and find the population as good as here in Blighty, as long as a person makes an effort to try to communicate with them. a smile and please, prago, grazie works well, plus my school boy italian/spanish, slightly better german and fluent french.
But there is plenty of outright hostility rudeness and agression here..
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I've been to plenty of other countries in Europe and would tend to agree that most are welcoming and friendly. Even the French who can be a little disinterested at first open up if you make an effort to speak at least a little of the lingo but the Italians certainly in the cities were openly hostile to outsiders. The Swiss were by far the most pleasant. A beautiful country populated by the nicest people. I'd go back tomorrow.
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I've been to plenty of other countries in Europe and would tend to agree that most are welcoming and friendly. Even the French who can be a little disinterested at first open up if you make an effort to speak at least a little of the lingo but the Italians certainly in the cities were openly hostile to outsiders. The Swiss were by far the most pleasant. A beautiful country populated by the nicest people. I'd go back tomorrow.
Oldrovermum was Scottish, (West calder) and as i as brought up away (as they say) I have had plenty of the openly hostile north of the border and plenty of the "welcome home too"
The kindest thing though that has happened to me anywhere was one rainy night in Edinburgh waiting for the train, and a bunch of young scots people took me under their wing. Mum had just had a severe heart attack, and i was quietly drowning my sorrows in the bar, and a double was placed in front of me, and we all talked till the train came.
Slo, please don't judge all italians by the ones you met. But I could make your hair curl with some of the tricks in the motor trade in Switzerland, Nicest people...How do you think they got so rich...Billions deposited from the likes of my first wife's family when they were "exterminated". and yet my mother in law was protected by a swiss pastor living in France .. for 4 years or so, at the risk of his own life, but before that escaped from one of the collection camps (with the help of a german soldier)
There are good and bad everywhere. I have seen it!
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"Slo, please don't judge all italians by the ones you met."
True. I do know a few here via my old business and several of the nicest people I know. Maybe they left to get away from the grouchy ones.
But you're right, we did find the staff in our hotel very helpful and cheerful. Sadly the prevailing attitude almost everywhere else was unpleasant.
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I suppose I know France (and the French) better than other countries. I've always found most of the people very pleasant, welcoming and helpful, with two exceptions: in Paris they are generally offhand and uninterested, with the waiters enjoying a well-earned reputation for rudeness; and in Corsica people are wary, resentful of outsiders and tolerant of tourists only because there's money to be made.
My wife and I enjoyed a lovely few days in Basel earlier this year, visiting one of my sons who was working there at the time. I always feel how clean, neat and tidy - and, above all, how civilised Switzerland is. Yet there's something uptight, sanitised and retentive about the people. A few years ago I nearly bought a flat near Montreux on the shores of Lac Léman (Lake Geneva), despite the byzantine procedures one has to go through as a foreigner; it fell through at the last minute and left me with mixed feelings about whether it had been a good idea in the first place.
Of all the countries I've been to in Europe, I have found the Netherlands and the Dutch to be the most welcoming and relaxed.
As others have said, the key to oiling the wheels if you go abroad is language. The British are notoriously bad at this. Because English is understood so widely we tend to get very lazy and miss the point that, if you make an effort to speak at least a few words in the local lingo (however badly), you will immediately be viewed in a more positive light as someone who's prepared to meet others halfway. It means a lot.
Edited by FP on 14/09/2017 at 19:06
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. A few years ago I nearly bought a flat near Montreux on the shores of Lac Léman (Lake Geneva), despite the byzantine procedures one has to go through as a foreigner; it fell through at the last minute and left me with mixed feelings about whether it had been a good idea in the first place.
Of all the countries I've been to in Europe, I have found the Netherlands and the Dutch to be the most welcoming and relaxed.
As others have said, the key to oiling the wheels if you go abroad is language.
I am of belgian descent amongst others, and have a belgian surname, but my first name is also belgian sounding, and with speaking fluent french and a bit of garbled flemish I get by extremely well. But I thoroughly agree with your sentiments about the Dutch and Swiss.
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I've AirBNB'd in Rome and I was really impressed with just how nice the hosts family were. As long as you are polite and smile you'll have no problem.
As with all big cities maintain situational awareness and you'll be fine. We were.
Use the underground.. it's cheap clean and fast. The busses ok. Only problem is that there aren't that many train lines. But just walking round the coliseum or in the Vatican..well it makes you wonder who else has been there over the years.
Well worth a visit.
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