I have just been on a nice afternoon walk in a crispy cold February weather. After couple of days of rain, today was really beautiful here in Nervi. The sky was blue and there was a bright sunshine most of the day. Not totally unexpected then that the narrow streets were full of people: kids, mums and dads with pushchairs, couples and the elderly, who are often being helped by a family member. I am very fond of the afternoon walk, it is a great Italian tradition.
Having said that, I also cannot help but noticing some interesting behaviour connected to the said tradition.
1. Stopping in the middle of the pavement to have a chat
Italians cannot pass by any friends by simply saying hello and moving on. No, they have to have a chat, however short. This means that they stop in the middle of the pavement effectively blocking everybody else who would ideally like to carry on with their walk without stopping all the time. At least here in Nervi, the pavements have been built decades, if not hundred years ago, when nobody had any reason to think that walkers could cause a traffic jam. They do. Normally you can pass by saying politely "permesso" and you will be able to move forward. I have bought the Nordic Walking Sticks, but I have not used them yet (partly, because they did not fit into the suitcase and are still stored in a different country altogether) but I wonder, if it would be wise to bring these to this environment at all, unless I would walk around 6.30 am instead in the afternoon?
2. Beaches are not only for the summer
Even though the actual beach season has finished some months ago and there are no umbrellas or sunchairs around, this does not mean that beaches are not being used at all. On any given sunny day, there are people sitting on the beach, winter coats next to them and possibly wearing a t-shirt. It really does not matter that it is +7 C. The sunshine is enough.
3. The popularity of ice cream
One might be forgiven to think that ice cream bars could not possibly survive during winter. Wrong. Eating ice cream has very little to do with the seasons. It is eaten all the time. And yes, if it is a sunny day, every park bench & beach are full of people enjoying an ice cream. For me ice cream is so strongly associated with summer that having two deliciously flavoured scoops of ice cream in the middle of winter (even in a mild winter), it would not occur to me to have one. At least it didn't before moving to Italy. Now, I could consider it, but only just.
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