Bonus post-the restroom situation

Ok girls and boys, there's only been one rather difficult part of our trip, lest you think we've visited paradise. I will politely say that restrooms in Italy are not quite up to American standards. I mean that literally as we have toilettes named 'American Standard'. Anywhere you go in the US bathrooms are standardized and there are no surprises. Some are lovelier than others of course, but they all follow the same format, which turns out to be genius.

In Italy, sometimes you actually have to pay money to use the restroom. This is not like at a store, where you might be loitering (think starbucks). Public bathrooms cost you about a buck to use. You also don't know what you'll find when you go in. I don't necessarily mean dirtiness or filth, I mean maybe they won't have a lid or seat at all. Some bathrooms don't have even a toilet and instead a porcelain hole in the floor (which I promptly left so I wouldn't have to figure out how it was used). The toilet is seperated by another door for the sink, so the whole process is a bit disorienting. Mainly I have found I think far too much about restrooms since I've been here, and have had to plan my days around my best chances at a respectable one.

Since I didn't want to post anything gross, I decided instead to take pictures of the handles or flushing device on each one. You see, none are the same. You basically have to do a where's Waldo to figure out how to flush the toilet in every restroom. Sometimes its a button on a wall, sometimes its a lever on top, other times you push at something at the floor (this goes for sinks too-it can take 2 minutes to get a sink to actually work), still other times its a panel not connected to the toilet or tank. I will be grateful for an American bathroom when we get home. Let me prove it: