Bidet and Squatter Fun

Cultural experiences come in all shapes and sizes. Part of our cultural experience in Italy had to with, yes, the toilets.

First of all, every hotel that we stayed in had bidets in the bathrooms. If you don't know what a bidet is, I will let you Google that. Anyway, not being very bidet-experienced, we all refrained from trying it.

Except for Collin.

On our first morning in Italy, just before we were going to head out into Venice, Collin was "exploring" in the bathroom, and somehow managed to turn the bidet on... full spray. Needless to say, both he and the bathroom floor were completely soaked (not to mention that he was also quite shocked at his discovery).

Another thing you may be interested in knowing about public toilets in Italy, is that it is sometimes very difficult to find one. And chances are, if you do find one, you have to pay for it. (We were fortunate enough to get the family rate of 3 euro once- about $4). You're best bet is to use the toilet when you eat somewhere as most restaurants allow their paying customers to use their facilities.

But, be warned! If you've found a particularly cheap place to eat (which we did on a few occasions), the toilet facilities may be cheap as well. They may even be.... (dunh, dunh, dunh)... squatters.

A squatter is nothing more than a glorified hole in the ground. There are ridges where your feet go, and the rest is up to you and your thigh muscles. The boys had no problem of course, but it wasn't so easy for the girls (especially poor Maddie who doesn't have the strongest leg muscles).

So there you have it. More information about Italian toilets than you cared to know about.