Tag: graffiti

What Americans Notice In Italy

M's Adventures

Now that I’ve had my first American visitors, they suggest that I write about what they noticed while in Italy. They noticed three very different things…

Adults making love to their gelatos: This is what they really noticed. They said that it was not normal in the United States to see a grown adult in business clothes “making love” to an ice cream, while walking on the street. I have no photos of this so instead I include a photo of a gelato that I ate… while on the street. As you can see, gelato melts fast so you have to eat it fast.

Note that my gelato has “panna” or whipped cream on it. This is normal in Italian gelaterias. Another thing that is normal is that no matter how small your gelato, you will usually get two flavors.

Peanut and salted caramel gelato.

Swastika graffiti: On the walls. In the United States, it would removed or painted over fairly quickly.

Five inch platform mules: On women. I guess it should be ten centimeter platforms since this is in Italy.

Whatsapp – Graffiti Painted Bike

M's Adventures

Sometimes communication requires a different form of “technology” language… when I was getting a custom paint job on my bicycle in Bogota, it wasn’t just that I had to learn more Spanish, but I found that it was easiest to communicate with the store manager via Whatsapp. Acquiring a product like a painted bike requires ceaseless vigilance and dogged constant contact… hence Whatsapp messages, and then magically, two months later, a reality in my possession.

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An example of some of the graffiti one can see in Bogota

Yup, I did find it sort of strange but eventually, I gave in… what’s that? Yes, I got my bike painted in a graffiti style as a homage to Bogota. Not in time to use it on Ciclovia, and just in time to pack with my belongings when I moved from Colombia. So, my advice is that if you plan to get anything custom made in Bogota, work on 12 months before you depart.