I Woulda Gone Barefoot in Italy

(ahem)
I woulda gone barefoot in Italy
But people there DID give a diddly.
They're possessed of high fashion
and money AIN'T rationed;
They woulda tossed me outa Italy.

 

I have only visited the most fashionable places and with shoes. Have to say that the Italians are unexpectedly nice and helpful to Americans (maybe trying to speak Italian helps). Did we jump to conclusions or did you try going barefoot and were admonished?

(even well dressed I felt like a pauper - high fashion is in full effect)

 

Indeed, I was well dressed (well, OK, no socks), and the people were indeed helpful and Mediterranean. No one admonished me; I just felt that, given the paradigmatic proclivities of the populous population, bare feet (especially in the cool of autumn) would have been inconsistent (I saw exactly 3 women wearing flips and no male to my notice went sockless). The weather was a glorious low 60s Fahrenheit (great for touring); had it been summertime, I might have taken a cue from the locals; as it was, I personally chose to forbear pedal pleasures.

 

thats a shame, i went 2 months ago when it was hot and i was barefoot for a day, most of it on trains and in train stations. Even in the heat I barely saw anyone wearing flips, they all wear fashion trainers!

Never got a comment, although I wouldnt have understood them anyway. its way too cold in the uk to go barefoot now, only another 6 months to wait......

 

You shouldn't take your cue from the locals. I've posted many times on how going barefoot is rarely any trouble here in the Netherlands, I even go barefoot at work including the job interview! Yet if you wait until you see anyone else barefoot, you might live here for a couple years or more before that happens... Not counting a few barefooters from work and folks I've arranged to meet with, I've spontaneously met with very few barefooters. I keep losing count (should write it down somewhere, LOL) but it happens less than once a year that I see anyone else barefoot. But I still do it, and rarely run into any trouble. I'm glad I don't let the low frequency of others stop me!

 

I've not had my ass hurled out of italy so far (wouldnt give a shit anyway, living in a land set on its route to annihilation by a vulgar thug among the general indifference), just from a club, once. my country fellowmen seem possessed by two opposite dispositions: attacking, bashing and insulting those who dare to look different (a raging trend nowadays) and sticking strictly to their own business in order to avoid annoyances (old habit hard to die). personally i agree with I.Montanelli who said that the italian in the vast majority are cowards and hypocrites. i'd like to call them a flock of opportunist sheep with viper teeth.

 

This is an attitude I don't really find all that offensive. If folks stuck to their own business, we'd have alot fewer problems as barefooters.

When I was in Italy this past September, I had few problems. Tourists are viewed as a different species and for the most part dismissed out of hand.

 

Just a quick note---

The people were wonderful; it was entirely my own choice to remain shod.

 

When our ship (sts stavros niarchos) put into Naples, the first person i saw on the quayside was barefoot and in shorts. His feet were very grubby and there were no shoes in sight. Never saw any others, though.