I learned...

Some of the things I found interesting in Ireland/Italy.

In Ireland-
1. It does rain as much as they say and that means it really is as green as you can imagine.
2. I was more scared being a passenger on the other side of the car than when I attempted driving on the other side of the car.
3. There are a lot of sheep.
4. The ketchup they use tastes funny.
5. Sometimes there was a harder language barrier here than in Italy.
6. I loved seeing all the signs in Gaelic.

In Italy-
1. There are Gelatarria's on every corner like there are Starbuck's here in the US.
2. It is amazing how cheap you can get getlato, good sized scoops for 1-2 euros.
3. Don't order a coke/soda in a restaurant. We paid 4 euros for a bottle of coke, that is close $5.50 for a single bottle.
4. Order the house wine instead-we could get 1/2 Liter, which is enough for us non wine connoisseurs for 3-4 euros.
5. The Italians smoke A LOT. It was unreal how many people smoke there. We even saw in the airport someone had bought a huge carton of cigarettes and the huge warning label on the carton said Warning: Cigarettes may raise blood pressure and cause impotence. Funny that they don't mention cancer.
6. Most people speak english there and their english is way better than my Italian, or occasional slip up of speaking spanish, which they understood as well.
7. The lemons there are huge, the size of grapefruits...no wonder I loved lemon gelato.
8. I wasn't a fan of how the set up their menu. Getting a first plate of pasta and then a second plat of just meat was strange. We got veal meatballs at one place, wich were good, but strange to just be given a plate of 6 meatballs. So instead, we stuck mainly to ordering an antipasta and then a first pasta dish.
9. We had a conversation with our host in Rome who explained she thought it was strange that in the US we can't drink outside. This is coming from the same country where the is no age limit for purchasing beer.