True facts about Italy and Italians

Ok here are some random facts that I've noticed that makes Italy different than the US.

1. They drive fast. And no one cares. And I have not seen one car pulled over by a cop, nor have I seen any cops out and about. They do have speed traps though- boxes on the side of the road that record your speed and take a picture if you're speeding. And you will get that ticket in the mail!
2. Italians are way better drivers than Americans and they know how to follow the laws of the freeway- get your ass in the right lane if you're going to drive slow.
3. There's not much traffic thanks to numerous roundabouts that keep the cars moving. There's  not very many traffic lights either.
4. I also have not seen many car accidents- maybe 2 so far.
5. You cannot make free right hand turns. That's a hard rule to remember!

Ok enough about cars, traffic and drivers

     6.  They love wine. Of course.
     7.  They love naps- every day from about 12-1530 they "celebrate" riposo, which means "rest".  
          Everything closes during those hours. Its pretty inconvenient.
     8.  At the Italian grocery stores- there is an aisle that's dedicated to just crackers, breads and
          cookies- the whole aisle- shelves upon shelves of just carbs.
     9.  Italian houses do not have carpet
    10. Refrigerators are small because they buy a lot of food fresh for that day. They don't store a    
          bunch of leftovers like Americans
    11. The water is very hard. Dishwashers require special dishwasher salt that you have to pour in
          every few weeks depending on how often you run the dishwasher.
    12.  Most Italian houses do not have closets.  We got lucky with one small closet in our bedroom
    13.  Some public restrooms including ones at restaurants don't have an actual toilet in their
           bathrooms. The "toilet" is a hole in the ground that you have to squat over. It's super  
           uncomfortable and weird. But it does flush- so I guess that's a plus.
    14.  Speaking of bathrooms- some public bathrooms. especially in touristy cities, charge you to use
           it- like a couple euros I think. So be thankful for free toilets back home!
    15.  Yes there are bidets everywhere and yes we have 2 in our house as well. I won't disclose if I've
            used it or not.
    16.  Back to the grocery stores- they don't have huge shopping carts like us. Most of them have
           these baskets on wheels that you pull around. They don't do bulk shopping so they don't need
           huge carts.
    17.  There are several milk station hut type things where you can get fresh pasteurized or
           unpasteurized milk. Some you have to buy the glass bottle and then buy the milk, and some
           have bottled milk ready to go. The pre-bottles ones are pasteurized. Pretty cool.
    18. Parking spaces are teeny tiny- everywhere. If you have an SUV you are screwed. Most people
         drive teeny tiny cars here anyway.
    19. Dogs are everywhere...streets, restaurants, stores, malls...its quite strange going out to dinner to
          a nice Chinese restaurant and the people next to you have a dog at their table :/
    20. Nobody wears helmets when riding a bike....no one. And they drive so close to the cars on the
          street, I'm surprised I haven't seen any get hit yet. Its so scary!

Ok that's all I have for now.