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Speaking about toilets, everywhere we went, the first and foremost thing was to look for a toilet. In many places, you had to pay to get into the toilet. A small table would be placed in front of the toilets (usually one side for men and the other side for women), and you were expected to pay around half a Euro. The most ridiculous place was in Italy where they charged one and a half Euro for that convenience. I certainly missed the Rest Areas along US highways and Interstates, where the toilets (restrooms, as is called in US) are not only free, but free coffee is served by volunteers. Come and find out for yourself. (Sorry, but some Rest Areas are being shut down in some states, because of budget cuts.) All pictures posted here were taken by us. Those from Google, brochure, and the web were duly noted. Most of my posted photos are still missing captions because I do not have time for them yet.
Note: Day 1 was flying from PDX (Portland, Oregon) to JFK (Kennedy Airport in New York), then to LHR (London), while Day 13 was flying home from Paris. |
说到厕所，在欧洲时特别怀念美国。在美国，厕所(此地称 Rest Room)到处有，不仅免费，而且十分干净。美国的高速公路，每隔50英里设有一 Rest Area 给人休息方便。那里不但有免费的干净洗手间，而且有义工给人分发免费的热咖啡。欧洲的厕所大部分要收费，而且收费不菲，从在其他国家的半欧元到在意大利的 1.5 欧元。(最新的报导说，在一些州，由于经济低迷预算不够，这类的 Rest Areas 要关掉一部分了。) 所有放在这里的照片，凡是网页摘取的都另有声明，其他的都是我们自己拍的。但许多照片没有加注释，因为我尚没有时间查证资料。
注：第一天系从美国飞英国；第十三天从法国飞回美国。 |
Hotel (Poppi) in Italy
where we stayed for one night. The supermarket close-by has good
and cheap foods. |
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这是我们在意大利第一晚所住的旅社(另外两晚在意大利另一个城市)。附近有一个食杂超市，不少东西比美国还便宜。就差没有荔枝。(人在欧洲，念念不忘大陆和台湾的荔枝的，非我莫属。) |
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a visit to Peruzz
leather factory and their very expensive brand-name products |
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参观意大利一家著名的皮革厂 |
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In a lot of
places we went, we were taken to shop (and to use their toilet) in luxury
stores. Does the tour director get a commission out of the sales?
If yes, shouldn't there be a disclosure? Or is this just another
harmless industry secret? |
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每到一处，导游总会把我们带去卖高档品如皮革、钻石、珠宝的商店，同时使用他们的厕所。问题是：导游可有拿回扣？如果有，她是否有义务告诉我们？或者，这就是导游行业的潜规则？ |
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There must be a reason
why this bilingual (English and Chinese) reminder is posted in the toilet. |
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厕所里的这纸中英文并列的告示说明什么问题呢？ |
(Click image to enlarge. 击打图片即可放大。）
Day
9 (6-24-2009): Visiting Florence
and Pisa the leaning tower
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During
our trip, we saw a lot of tourist groups who spoke Mandarin.
Some of them came from Taiwan, some from mainland China. Even
in our small group of 42, about ten could speak Mandarin. In
one of the toilets (see last picture below), the bilingual poster
apparently aimed at Chinese who did not flush the toilet. Of
course we flush the toilets, but it took us a while to figure out
where the level or button was. It was certainly different from
the US, and probably from Taiwan or mainland China. But the
Chinese tend to speak pretty loud in the public. Old habits
die hard, so we all need to be observant and to mend. In a trip
so close to Rome, it's appropriate to remind ourselves that in Rome,
do as Romans do.
