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I am talking about things like infrastructure (I spent some months in Italy and the infrastructure is terrible, Rome hardly has any metro lines, and getting around is a nightmare sometimes. Things like collection of trash, efficiency of public transportation, drivers respecting the norms etc. it all tends to be so chaotic in Italy, sometimes it doesn't even work!) It's all really bad, it's so bad and bureaucratic you just have to adapt and get over it, or you will go crazy!
In Spain things seem to work... Trash picks trash so it doesn't pile up like it happens in Napoli or Roma, metros go everywhere in Madrid, Seville, Barcelona, and they are clean, organized, efficient. Highway speeds are respected. 120 kilometers its 120 kilometers. Not 160 like Italians do!
I mean in Italy gay marriage for example still raises eye brows and turns into a huge taboo like discussion, while in Spain gay marriage has existed for almost a decade now!
The trains in Spain are really fast efficient, in a couple of hours you are in Madrid and then in Barcelona. Try that in Italy!! Sometimes going from Rome to Napoli takes hours even when the distance is shorter!
I am really impressed with Spain open tolerant attitude. Everything orderly, everything works.... For some reason I always thought it would be more like Italy or greece but it's not. It's much more developed, efficient, organized.
I am talking about things like infrastructure (I spent some months in Italy and the infrastructure is terrible, Rome hardly has any metro lines, and getting around is a nightmare sometimes. Things like collection of trash, efficiency of public transportation, drivers respecting the norms etc. it all tends to be so chaotic in Italy, sometimes it doesn't even work!) It's all really bad, it's so bad and bureaucratic you just have to adapt and get over it, or you will go crazy!
In Spain things seem to work... Trash picks trash so it doesn't pile up like it happens in Napoli or Roma, metros go everywhere in Madrid, Seville, Barcelona, and they are clean, organized, efficient. Highway speeds are respected. 120 kilometers its 120 kilometers. Not 160 like Italians do!
I mean in Italy gay marriage for example still raises eye brows and turns into a huge taboo like discussion, while in Spain gay marriage has existed for almost a decade now!
The trains in Spain are really fast efficient, in a couple of hours you are in Madrid and then in Barcelona. Try that in Italy!! Sometimes going from Rome to Napoli takes hours even when the distance is shorter!
I am really impressed with Spain open tolerant attitude. Everything orderly, everything works.... For some reason I always thought it would be more like Italy or greece but it's not. It's much more developed, efficient, organized.
Am I right about my assumption?
Rome has a subpar metro because of archeological reasons (for a more apt comparison look at Milan's 6 metro lines and Naples' 3 plus commuter lines), digging through the land takes more time as they often find archeological remains. For this reason (as well as corruption, that can't be denied), every step ends up costing more than forecast and funding often blocked. Rome is Italy's most mismanaged city at the moment, the political and economical condition of the city is precarious after a scandal involving former mayoral cabinets emerged (Mafia Capitale, you may have heard of it).
Anyway, the country has a optimal train network. I live in Southern Italy (Apulia) and constantly use trains and buses, the system works quite well and trains rarely come late. The only places where you would struggle with public transportation are Calabria and Sicily but that's probably because of local corruption, geological problems and scarce population. Infrastructure is newer in Spain though and that's because it had its economic boom more recently having had a high growth throughout the 90s and 00s resulting in the bubble who then led to 20-25% unemployment.
As for gay marriage, talking about it is hardly taboo, most people support it as you can see below:
Trains are quite fast here as well, with Frecciarossa, you can go from Rome to Venice in 3 hours and 20 minutes and from Naples to Milan in about 4 hours and a half.
Shashesqwanna.
Thank you for their good opinion of Spain but it is most interesting your opinion also because indicates that Spain the was surprised to you and that you previously had a poor, wrong idea about Spain and that is unfortunately very common in USA.-
Shashesqwanna.
Thank you for their good opinion of Spain but it is most interesting your opinion also because indicates that Spain the was surprised to you and that you previously had a poor, wrong idea about Spain and that is unfortunately very common in USA.-
I am not from the USA
nor I didn't have a bad image of spain. I just pictured it mediterranean and laid back like italy or greece. It's all.
If I tell you the truth, I think you're right. I did a little tour a couple months ago, starting from Milan, then went my way down to Genoa, then Pisa and last, Rome. Milan for me was cool, but kind of chaotic, the traffic was terrible, but I really enjoy my stay there, however, I didn't spend too much time there, so that's the only thing I can say. Another thing that shocked me a lot was that it took me ages to cross a pedestrian crossing, it was so scary.
The way they drive... most of the parts of Rome seemed run-down for me, the public transportation wasn't convenient enough for a city that is way more spread than Madrid (Rome), however, Italy was awesome, I really liked the country. And talking about the society... yes, I think that we're way more advanced than them, it's understandable though, I guess that the Church has a lot to do with it.
If I tell you the truth, I think you're right. I did a little tour a couple months ago, starting from Milan, then went my way down to Genoa, then Pisa and last, Rome. Milan for me was cool, but kind of chaotic, the traffic was terrible, but I really enjoy my stay there, however, I didn't spend too much time there, so that's the only thing I can say. Another thing that shocked me a lot was that it took me ages to cross a pedestrian crossing, it was so scary.
The way they drive... most of the parts of Rome seemed run-down for me, the public transportation wasn't convenient enough for a city that is way more spread than Madrid (Rome), however, Italy was awesome, I really liked the country. And talking about the society... yes, I think that we're way more advanced than them, it's understandable though, I guess that the Church has a lot to do with it.
As for driving, it's hard to understand but once you know how local rules are, it isn't hard. That said, it's obviously difficult for visitors to understand the order behind all the chaos in our driving (seriously i can see how something simple as crossing a road can become a hard task in Naples, Rome, Milan, ecc. for someone not accostumed to it). Rome is run down but it's hard to keep all the historic buildings brilliantly maintained and the public transportation is a mess more so than in any other city (Palermo comes close though but at least it isn't as large)
Your society is more progressive but new generations are catching up while the older ones are still overtly influenced by the Church after 50 years of rule of the Christian Democrats
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(seriously i can see how something simple as crossing a road can become a hard task in Naples, Rome, Milan, ecc. for someone not accostumed to it). Rome is run down but it's hard to keep all the historic buildings brilliantly maintained and the public transportation is a mess more so than in any other city (Palermo comes close though but at least it isn't as large)
