quote:

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Originally posted by Pauline:
Anyone read Annie's Mailbox today - about American's cleaning their driveways!!! I guess some of us can be obsessed with cleaning too. (My driveway is made of dirt, thank goodness, no need to clean it!!)

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When we were young marrieds, we rented a flat in a neighborhood of St. Louis called "Scrubby Dutch Town" or "Scrubby Dutch" for short. It was a mostly German neighborhood that got its name because every Saturday morning all the women were outside scrubbing their stoops, sidewalks, and even the street and gutters. They used boar bristled brushes and strong bleach water. I was happy that we lived in the second floor flat with the landlady downstairs who did the scrubbing!

Deborah Horn

In a previous life I was an Umbrian sunflower farmer. I'd like to do a past life regression and stay there.
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Marketing Solutions for Health Care

My gosh! They don't have toilet seats in Italy?? Is there anything else I should know? I'm bringing toilet seat covers AND tissue paper/toilet paper. Even a small container of waterless hand cleaner. And that's for when I go walking around. Should I bring a small bottle of toilet cleaner, too?

^*^*^*^*^*^*Cynde^*^*^*^*^*^*
Amo Italia

Cynde, read carefully - they don't have toilet seats on the toilets in the Autogrill. It is almost standard in an Autogrill - no toilet seats!! Mostly everywhere else has toilet seats - unless you find one of those Turkish toilets - a hole in the floor with two porcelain footrests to stand on. But you don't see those much anymore (however I do have photos of them).

I carry small packs of kleenex with me for toilet paper, but you usually don't need it. I just keep it for times when there is none, like I do in the US.

You don't need hand cleaner - bathrooms usually have soap, just like here. And you don't need toilet cleaner - there is always a little scrub brush beside every toilet. Use that.

Pauline from Slow Travelers

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Originally posted by Cynde: ...Even a small container of waterless hand cleaner....

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Cynde, Have you used the waterless hand cleaner before? I don't know about other folks on the board, but it never left my hands feeling very clean. In fact, they almost felt sticky afterwards!

I always stash a bunch of those little packets of handi-wipes in my purse or backpack, and use them frequently. They're great for when you're out and about with no convenient hotel or public bathroom around.

Btw, facilities at the train station at Riomaggiore? Turkish toilet!!

"Wake up, Neo."

By my standards, the waterless handwashers here are better than in the US. I sometimes drop the garbage off on my way to town, so I always carry them. You get them at the farmacia.
Mine are called Lycia Persona, Salvettine Detergenti. No stickiness. We Americans eat with our hands much more often than Italians.
Cynde, those worst case scenarios are pretty rare. You don't need toilet seat covers or handiwipes in your luggage. Trust me.

Allright. Turkish toilets. I love them!!!
Except for the pold people, who might have some trouble squatting, I find the "turca" lovely. It allows to "do" without touching anything that might be dirty and it allows a person to have a more... Er... Ergonomic position. Even the at the hardest times everything goes smoothly on one of them!!!

Alice Twain
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Sciur capitan, questa che l’è la verità, adess ghe n’hoo piee i ball, Giovanni el turna a cà. Se te voret scriv te regali la mia pena, se te voret sparam questa l’è la mia schena.

Mr capitain, this is the truth Now I am sick of it, Giovanni goes back home If you want to write to me, I’ll give you my pencil If you want to shoot me, here’s my back.

          Davide Van De Sfroos, Sciur capitan

Is that the name for the hole in the floor type "Turkish Toilets"? What I'd like to know is what technique to use if you wear trousers. I'm always afraid that I will get my clothes & shoes messed up.

Beebee

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Originally posted by Alice Twain:
Allright. Turkish toilets. I love them!!!
Except for the pold people, who might have some trouble squatting, I find the "turca" lovely.

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I never really minded them until I was 8 months pregnant and had a broken ankle so was using crutches. The bathrooms at the main entrance of the hospital here in Siena only has Turkish ones and afetr trying for a few minutes (hey I was a gymnast so how hard could it be)I found a kind doctor who let me use his private bathroom.

Alice....

regarding la "turca" being more ergonomic... I think there is a gender difference in play here. For a man, to get his bottom in position puts his front at a more dangerous angle. I think female anatomy has an advantage here. Maybe that's why is called "La Turca" instead of "Il Turco"???

Dean

Meet my lawyer-- Gianni Schicchi!

One of the great surprises of Italian travel was the discovery that the Turkish toilets flushed !!! And I see them all over the place - especially in small bars and restaurants in small towns.

My experience with Italian restrooms is that they are generally clean, and frequently have a nearby window, so you can enjoy the view while visiting. Other than finding one when in need, I find them at least as nice as restrooms in the US and frequently nicer.

Dean, I'm so relieved that you weighed in on this topic. With all your rarified talk of Opera and Fine Wine, it's comforting to know that you can get down and dirty with the rest of us.

Rebecca

www.brigolante.com

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Originally posted by beebee:
What I'd like to know is what technique to use if you wear trousers.

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My technique is quite simple: I pull down the trousers and do what I had come to. I never messed once. At times I got my skirt wet, but I wear very long and wide skirts.

Alice Twain
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Sciur capitan, questa che l’è la verità, adess ghe n’hoo piee i ball, Giovanni el turna a cà. Se te voret scriv te regali la mia pena, se te voret sparam questa l’è la mia schena.

Mr capitain, this is the truth Now I am sick of it, Giovanni goes back home If you want to write to me, I’ll give you my pencil If you want to shoot me, here’s my back.

          Davide Van De Sfroos, Sciur capitan

quote:

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Originally posted by dean:
For a man, to get his bottom in position puts his front at a more dangerous angle.

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I guess you do not want me to start talking about sizes... (who said anything about "down and dirty"?). Anyhow, Arabs have been squatting for centuries and they are even longer when relaxed due to circumcision...
Now, please, do not make me become really "down and dirty" or I might spoil the fine and elegant image of myself I have painstakingly given you!

Alice Twain
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Sciur capitan, questa che l’è la verità, adess ghe n’hoo piee i ball, Giovanni el turna a cà. Se te voret scriv te regali la mia pena, se te voret sparam questa l’è la mia schena.

Mr capitain, this is the truth Now I am sick of it, Giovanni goes back home If you want to write to me, I’ll give you my pencil If you want to shoot me, here’s my back.

          Davide Van De Sfroos, Sciur capitan

And it is easier to find public restrooms in Italy than in the US. Ever needed to find a restroom quickly in New York City? Yikes! Santa Fe isn't easy either. In Italy there are public restrooms in every town, or you can go into a caffe, and most parking lots have one.

Pauline from Slow Travelers

Cynde, not only are there some restrooms here that do not have toliet seats, but there are some that do not have toliets. I have seen this twice in rome, but do not remember where. It was a porcelian rectangle set into the floor. It had ridges on either side for "foot traction / no slip", something of that nature. Then from the sides, it sloped down to the center where the whole was. So, in order to use this thing, you better have some decent leg muscles.

The public WC's next to the Colosseum have an interesting ambiance. The stalls do not have white lights, but blue lights. It feels like you are back in a college dorm room. They are called "Heroin lights". The blue light makes it extremely hard for a user to see their blue veins under the lights. This way he bathrooms do not attract an undesriable crowd.

On a different note, my favorite "receptacle" would be the stand-up ones on the streets in Amsterdam. Out for a stroll, duck into one and still able to continue your conversation. It has a see-through fencing from chest level up, just for that purpose. But, of course, only for doing #1.

Tony Polzer
Tour Operator
3 Millennia Tours
www.threemillennia.com
tony@threemillennia.com

quote:

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Originally posted by Tony da Roma:
Cynde, not only are there some restrooms here that do not have toliet seats, but there are some that do not have toliets.

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These are the Turkish toilets that others have mentioned.

quote:

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On a different note, my favorite "receptacle" would be the stand-up ones on the streets in Amsterdam.

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We have a few of these in Siena. Totally sexist if you ask my opinion.

Honestly, every time I come and check out this site I either learn something, or I laugh.This thread has certainly provided both!!!

Last summer I was in Rome, in the Villa Borghese park and there was a public washroom there, which I stepped into. Unfortunatley, there was no door on the actual stall so I saw the most.... ummm....talented Italian woman, she was squatting (it was one of those turkish toilets) holding up her skirt, and talking on a cellphone all at once. She sort of smiled and gestured to me and I left, both amazed and astounded. You Italian women ROCK!

Shoot for the Moon, even if you miss you'll still be among the stars.

This is why you need a bidet - one off balance moment on a Turkish toilet. Perhaps when going to call waiting on the cell phone.

I went through my photos looking for a photo of a Turkish toilet. I know I have some - but not in the last few trips. Will keep searching. Meanwhile here is a bidet.


Pauline from Slow Travelers

I've never used a bidet in my life. Which way do you face? And looking at the one above, does any part of your body actually touch the porcelein?

*Shannon, you're so funny.

^*^*^*^*^*^*Cynde^*^*^*^*^*^*
Amo Italia

[This message was edited by Cynde on 12 May 2003 at 05:11 PM.]

Of course, you sit on it, facing the wall. That way you can manage the faucetts (hot/cold water), reach the soap, washing cloth maybe, or etc. and do whatever you want to do with it. The water is supposed to come up from the bottom, as a shower. If you don't have room in your bathroom for a bidet, try the hand held shower everybody has in their shower/bathtub nowadays I don't think we can insert a picture showing all these maneuvers

"Canto alla vita alla sua bellezza ad ogni sua ferita ogni sua carezza..."

"I sing to life, to its beauty, to each of its wounds and each of its caresses..."

Toilets of the World will let you see more than you want to know about "squatters." I have travelled to Turkey, Egypt and China and have seen too many. I hope I don't find any in Italy this fall!

Paul

This is exactly like the Turkish toilets I have seen in Italy:
Toilet photo

And there is usually a special towel to use with the Bidet, small like a hand towel, on a rack beside the Bidet.

Pauline from Slow Travelers

I am sooooo spoiled. My toilet at home is seated, and immaculously spotless. It's pure white porcelain. After looking at all those pictures I must say that any one of those toilets next to my toilet is disgusting. BUT I know now that when I go to Greece or Turkey that I'll be prepared and expect to see something either seatless or in the floor.

Sorry, but when it comes toilets, especially public toilets, I will usually have a paper toilet seat cover and when I go I try not to even touch the seat. *don't mean to be graphic* And if there is no toilet seat cover I line the seat with toilet paper. How paranoid is that?? I just get a little freaky imagining those little germs jumping off the toilet and onto me. Forgive me, I musta had a bad childhood and blocked the toilet part out of my mind.


The bidet kinda reminds me of a jacuzzi.....you sorta relax in a jet of warm water. Refreshing.

^*^*^*^*^*^*Cynde^*^*^*^*^*^*
Amo Italia

Cynde,

I don't know about the others but I always travel with seat covers and, if I'm short of those, I use plenty of Toilet paper to sit on (always be careful not to flush it though in some WC, too much tpaper might flood the bathroom).

By the way, I love this topic!!!

Hasta il Bidet, Siempre!