Wonder

'I can't think of anything that excites a greater sense of childlike wonder than to be in a country where you are ignorant of almost everything.'

- Bill Bryson

Trains

'Italians are entirely without any commitment to order. They live their lives in a kind of pandemonium, which I find very attractive. They don't queue, they don't pay their taxes, they don't turn up for appointments on time, they don't undertake any sort of labour without a small bribe, they don't believe in rules at all. On Italian trains every window bears a label telling you in three languages not to lean out of the window. The labels in French and German instruct you not to lean out, but in Italian they merely suggest that it might not be a good idea.'

from Neither Here Nor There - Bill Bryson

Parking

'I love the way the Italians park. You can turn any street corner in Rome and it looks as if you've just missed a parking competition for blind people. Cars are pointed in every direction, half on the pavements and half off, facing in, facing sideways, blocking garages and side streets and phone boxes, fitted into spaces so tight that the only possible way out would be through the sun roof.'

from Neither Here Nor There - Bill Bryson