Italian Fact of the Day #79: Tiny Sidewalks
This is a photo of a normal-sized sidewalk in Florence.
It is not the largest, but it certainly is not the smallest in the city. There are some that are so narrow that you cannot comfortably walk on them without scraping your arm or your purse against the wall, and you must press yourself flat against the building when a car comes through. There is no exaggeration here.
Not a big deal, you say? Take this and add it to the fact that the streets of Florence are flooded by tour groups from all countries 11 months out of the year.
This means that you are playing a game of chicken every two minutes with hoards of Chinese, American, Russian, German, Japanese, and British tourists. This doesn't even include the local Italians who win at this game of chicken every time. All the while, cars and giant buses whiz by within inches of you on these tiny roads.
The Americans, Japanese, and British usually will kindly yield to a sole person trying to stay on the baby sidewalk, but one does not stand a chance against the Chinese, Russians, and Germans. It's a daily battle on the streets of Firenze. And there's no stand-your-ground laws here protecting the locals.
Because of the long-lasting Roman, Medieval, and Renaissance city structures in Italy, these Barbie Playhouse-sized sidewalks can be found in every village and town, and even the smaller byways of big cities like Rome and Milan.
And so if you live here, or spend any extended time in Italy, you start to learn the quick, bull-headed walking style of Italians, New Yorkers, and how I imagine Winston Churchill did it:
"Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty [sidewalk chicken games]—never give in, except to convictions of honour and good sense [walking babies and mothers walking with babies]. Never yield to [Chinese, German and Russian tourists'] force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy [tourists in general]."