Repost of 2004 post covering experience with the "pay to pee"phenomenon in Italy

Repost of 2004 post covering experience with the "pay to pee"
phenomenon in Italy


PJ O'Donovan
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More options Jun 24 2004, 5:21 pm
Newsgroups: rec.travel.europe
From: (PJ O'Donovan)
Date: 24 Jun 2004 18:21:04 -0700
Local: Thurs, Jun 24 2004 5:21 pm
Subject: Toilet in Arezzo
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After 38+ years of world travel, this American is fascinated at the
European dichotomy in that medical care should be free and provided by
a government but Europeans are comfortable in their phenomenon that
one must usually pay for their daily bodily excretions in the event
that they must find and pay for public facilities to eliminate said
excretions when the need arises (a user fee).

I have returned from another great vacation, renting a magnificent
villa, SE of Florence in Tuscany with wife, daughter, son-in law, and
two teenage grandchildren.

Having never seen the frescoes of Piero della Francesco, wife and I
decided to drive the rental car into Arezzo while the kids decided to
enjoy the sun and the pool at the villa. We found a parking spot for
the car near the Stazione, within walking distance of San Francesco.
It was mid-morning and my aged bladder was telling me to get rid of
the morning coffee NOW! but after finding the parking place, my wife
declared her need for a facility was even greater.

Fortunately (I thought) a public toilet was near our parking place.
After translating Italian instructions at this particular toilet
facility, it was coin operated only (no paper money) but only .30
Euros ( a bargain) since the going rate for the privilege to pee all
over Europe is .50 Euros. I had only 1.0 Euro and this facility gave
no change. Since we had emergencies, I deposited the one Euro and like
magic a door automatically opened and a pungent stench permeated the
atmosphere and my wife said "Oh My God!, but I have to go" and entered
the tube. When she exited the tube she said "Your Turn!".I entered and
quickly discovered why it was .3 Euros instead of the going rate of .5
Euros. I will not elaborate since an elaborate description of this
place could only nauseate.

Since I had overpaid by .4 Euros for this privilege of 2 European
pees, I entered the stinky tube as the automatic door opened to allow
my wife to exit but was then concerned I could be locked in that
stinky place but the opposite happened. The door continued to open and
then close over and over again as I was standing relieving myself in
full view of the public walking by this stinky tube on this very busy
street. I might as well have done what I had to do on the grass in
full view in the park adjacent to where this stinky tube was located.

The frescoes were magnificent and the city was interesting but we will
never forget that stinky toilet/tube in Arezzo.

On 1/03/09 16:23, in article
, "PJ
O'Donovan" wrote:

Repost of 2004 post

You have a scatological problm

From: "PJ O'Donovan"
Organization: http://groups.google.com
Newsgroups: alt.activism.death-penalty,rec.travel.europe
Date: Sun, 1 Mar 2009 07:23:41 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Repost of 2004 post covering experience with the "pay to pee"
phenomenon in Italy


Repost of 2004 post covering experience with the "pay to pee"
phenomenon in Italy

You have to reach back to 2004, and to Italy? This strikes me as a pretty
**** poor topic at this point.

Donna Evleth


PJ O'Donovan
View profile
More options Jun 24 2004, 5:21 pm
Newsgroups: rec.travel.europe
From: (PJ O'Donovan)
Date: 24 Jun 2004 18:21:04 -0700
Local: Thurs, Jun 24 2004 5:21 pm
Subject: Toilet in Arezzo
Reply to author | Forward | Print | Individual message | Show original
| Report this message | Find messages by this author

After 38+ years of world travel, this American is fascinated at the
European dichotomy in that medical care should be free and provided by
a government but Europeans are comfortable in their phenomenon that
one must usually pay for their daily bodily excretions in the event
that they must find and pay for public facilities to eliminate said
excretions when the need arises (a user fee).

I have returned from another great vacation, renting a magnificent
villa, SE of Florence in Tuscany with wife, daughter, son-in law, and
two teenage grandchildren.

Having never seen the frescoes of Piero della Francesco, wife and I
decided to drive the rental car into Arezzo while the kids decided to
enjoy the sun and the pool at the villa. We found a parking spot for
the car near the Stazione, within walking distance of San Francesco.
It was mid-morning and my aged bladder was telling me to get rid of
the morning coffee NOW! but after finding the parking place, my wife
declared her need for a facility was even greater.

Fortunately (I thought) a public toilet was near our parking place.
After translating Italian instructions at this particular toilet
facility, it was coin operated only (no paper money) but only .30
Euros ( a bargain) since the going rate for the privilege to pee all
over Europe is .50 Euros. I had only 1.0 Euro and this facility gave
no change. Since we had emergencies, I deposited the one Euro and like
magic a door automatically opened and a pungent stench permeated the
atmosphere and my wife said "Oh My God!, but I have to go" and entered
the tube. When she exited the tube she said "Your Turn!".I entered and
quickly discovered why it was .3 Euros instead of the going rate of .5
Euros. I will not elaborate since an elaborate description of this
place could only nauseate.

Since I had overpaid by .4 Euros for this privilege of 2 European
pees, I entered the stinky tube as the automatic door opened to allow
my wife to exit but was then concerned I could be locked in that
stinky place but the opposite happened. The door continued to open and
then close over and over again as I was standing relieving myself in
full view of the public walking by this stinky tube on this very busy
street. I might as well have done what I had to do on the grass in
full view in the park adjacent to where this stinky tube was located.

The frescoes were magnificent and the city was interesting but we will
never forget that stinky toilet/tube in Arezzo.

On 1/03/09 19:38, in article , "Donna
Evleth" wrote:

PJ O'Donovan
View profile

His profile is that of a scatologist

definition: A person having an obsession with excrement or excretory
functions.

Bingo.

PJ O'Donovan wrote:

Repost of 2004 post covering experience with the "pay to pee"
phenomenon in Italy

It appears that Peabrain has something of a public toilet fetish.

Could it be that he's a lavatory lurker looking for glory holes?

--
"...and I got my middle name from somebody who
obviously didn't think I'd ever run for
President." - Barack Obama

"PJ O'Donovan" wrote in message news:
...

Repost of 2004 post covering experience with the "pay to pee"
phenomenon in Italy


PJ O'Donovan
View profile
More options Jun 24 2004, 5:21 pm
Newsgroups: rec.travel.europe
From: (PJ O'Donovan)
Date: 24 Jun 2004 18:21:04 -0700
Local: Thurs, Jun 24 2004 5:21 pm
Subject: Toilet in Arezzo
Reply to author | Forward | Print | Individual message | Show original
| Report this message | Find messages by this author

After 38+ years of world travel, this American is fascinated at the
European dichotomy in that medical care should be free and provided by
a government but Europeans are comfortable in their phenomenon that
one must usually pay for their daily bodily excretions in the event
that they must find and pay for public facilities to eliminate said
excretions when the need arises (a user fee).

I have returned from another great vacation, renting a magnificent
villa, SE of Florence in Tuscany with wife, daughter, son-in law, and
two teenage grandchildren.

Having never seen the frescoes of Piero della Francesco, wife and I
decided to drive the rental car into Arezzo while the kids decided to
enjoy the sun and the pool at the villa. We found a parking spot for
the car near the Stazione, within walking distance of San Francesco.
It was mid-morning and my aged bladder was telling me to get rid of
the morning coffee NOW! but after finding the parking place, my wife
declared her need for a facility was even greater.

Fortunately (I thought) a public toilet was near our parking place.
After translating Italian instructions at this particular toilet
facility, it was coin operated only (no paper money) but only .30
Euros ( a bargain) since the going rate for the privilege to pee all
over Europe is .50 Euros. I had only 1.0 Euro and this facility gave
no change. Since we had emergencies, I deposited the one Euro and like
magic a door automatically opened and a pungent stench permeated the
atmosphere and my wife said "Oh My God!, but I have to go" and entered
the tube. When she exited the tube she said "Your Turn!".I entered and
quickly discovered why it was .3 Euros instead of the going rate of .5
Euros. I will not elaborate since an elaborate description of this
place could only nauseate.

Since I had overpaid by .4 Euros for this privilege of 2 European
pees, I entered the stinky tube as the automatic door opened to allow
my wife to exit but was then concerned I could be locked in that
stinky place but the opposite happened. The door continued to open and
then close over and over again as I was standing relieving myself in
full view of the public walking by this stinky tube on this very busy
street. I might as well have done what I had to do on the grass in
full view in the park adjacent to where this stinky tube was located.

The frescoes were magnificent and the city was interesting but we will
never forget that stinky toilet/tube in Arezzo.

Pajamas, with all that money you keep spamming you have, why won't you
consult a psychiatrist?

Get out of this group parasite !

"Earl Evleth" a écrit dans le message de
...
On 1/03/09 16:23, in article
, "PJ
O'Donovan" wrote:

Repost of 2004 post

You have a scatological problm

Repost of 2004 post covering experience with the "pay to pee"
phenomenon in Italy

PJ

You have to reach back to 2004, and to Italy?

Donna Evleth

Yep. Last time we were in Europe Ms Donna. One of the many interesting
things about Europe is the fact that many things do not really change
as much as they do in the States. I really miss Europe for that among
other reasons

Since the Euro bubble relative to the dollar evolved things in Europe
compatible with our lifestyle to go there became cost prohibitive..

However since that Euro/USD bubble, like all bubbles, appears to have
burst I am thinking about trying to talk to my wife into considering a
return if she feel she would have the stamina considering her health
problems resulting from a long trip and time changes.

I searched and did find the complete 2004 post in its entirety if you
are interested in reading more on that "pay to pee or not to pay to
pee" phenomenon in Europe





"Just returned from Munich to Vienna to Munich over New Year with
toilet payment phenomenon information.

Stopped driving on the autobahn near German/ Austrian border for
lunch. Wife needed to use toilet and was surprised to encounter subway
type turnstile requiring deposit of .5 Euro to enter toilet area. Area
was equipped with a single turnstile requiring exact change but would
accept multipile combination of coins to use toilet.

Clever way to thwart toilet thieves not depositing money in toilet
dish always there for putzfrau oder mann (person). It is always the
symbol broadcasting that one must pay to pee

Big disadvantage though for tour bus tourists. Noticed huge mob scene
at turnstile while bus tourists fumbled for exact change to get into
toilet area. Only one turnstile but multiple toilets. Not very good
crowd control. Equalizing toilet/ turnstile ratio would improve
traffic flow to toilets there.

She was also surprised that toilets had automatic cleaning rotators
with electric eye or timing device. She couldn't determine which but
it operated while she was sitting.

There was only one turnstile with people going through very slowly due
to the time to come up with exact change combined with time for the
machine to swallow the coins and then spit out a ticket.

The ticket appeared to be useless other than to establish that one had
paid as opposed to jumping over the turnstile, if asked. My wife still
has her ticket as a souvenir. It has a bar code, amount of Euros, date
and time down to the second printed on it.

Once past the turnstile people fanned out quickly to multiple cubicles
for the particular period I was outside waiting for my wife. It might
have been slower at the turnstiles because the particular tour bus
consisted of elderly ladies not moving too fast and some appeared
confused. They were probably conditioned to the usual, ever present
dish to pay for the privilige to pee.

I live in Southwest Georgia. I would bet on my life there is no such
contraption for toilets in all of Georgia, other than Atlanta. They do
some weird things up there in Atlanta but I would be surprised if even
Atlanta has such an elaborate contraption where one has to pay to
pee.

She didn't complain since it was better than the public toilet she
encountered last spring in San Girmignano that did not have seats at
all in the toilet area.

It was free to pee in that hole in the ground there in San Girmignano
though.

I find the dichotomy in the European mentality fascinating.

On one hand they want somebody else to pay for their health care but
then they have no qualms about the necessity to compensate someone
else for the discharge of a normal bodily function nor as a group do
they appear to be concerned with the proliferation of the health
hazards they are inflicting on each other and themselves with tobacco
smoke.

I also find it interesting that this collectivist mentality that
others should pay stops at health care, but does not include food,
clothing or housing. Perhaps these other dependencies will follow and
a Big Brother or a new Fuehrer will promise to take care of everything
for everybody over there."

On 1/03/09 23:53, in article
, "PJ
O'Donovan" wrote:

Last time we were in Europe


Persona non grata since

"Earl Evleth" a écrit dans le message de
...
On 1/03/09 19:38, in article , "Donna
Evleth" wrote:

PJ O'Donovan
View profile

His profile is that of a scatologist

definition: A person having an obsession with excrement or excretory
functions.

Bingo.