It’s maybe funny that Rome should provide some of my most favourite insights into English people. I blame Wimbledon.
The first laugh was on me: I made the mistake of asking a burly bloke from Sheffield (who was watching the tennis) if he’d ever been. ‘Not me. I’m not really of that class’ came the taciturn reply.
Of course. Unlike the Aus Open, where the $30 fee for a ground pass is accessible to many, and you can turn up on the day and buy one, Wimbledon runs an annual lottery. ‘Winning’ just gives you the right to part with 80 quid or so for a basic entrance ticket. Everyone else misses out – unless they fancy camping out for 2-3 days for ‘on the day’ tickets.
I tried to explain this and I think, even if he didn’t quite believe me, our man from Sheffield at least understood that I wasn’t posh. (I was wearing a £1 dress from Primark, for crying out loud!)
As the afternoon wore on, we were joined by a chap from the States and a bubbly couple from Leeds. They all had one complaint: Rome is lovely, but bloody expensive. ‘Oh?’ says me, thinking of my 35c packets of pasta and 4 euro bottles of wine at home, or Friday’s beach experience. ‘Aye, one place charges 7 euros 50 for pints, and it’s just John Smiths, nothing fancy. And fish ‘n’ chips were 12 euros – that’s more’n a tenner!’
Hmmm. Methinks I understand where they’re going wrong. ‘Have you tried the pizza since you’ve been here? I had a very good pasta for 7 euros the other day, and wine for 6 euros a bottle’.
‘You must mean for a half bottle.’
‘Nope. A proper bottle’.
One wonders, sometimes, why English people go abroad, if all they want to do is sit in a pub, watch English sport and eat fish and chips. But the lesson is obvious: eat as the locals do. It's more authentic - and cheaper!!
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