1) Construction everywhere.
If you live in Rome, like me, you will notice that suddenly, all of those urban transportation projects will suddenly make a reappearance. In an obvious display of great intelligence, the Roman city council will decide to suspend the metro service past 9:30pm FROM APRIL TO FREAKING AUGUST so that they can work on "Maintenance Issues". Genius. Thus, spring, and summer, will become about getting to know your fellow man as you squish into crowded buses or awkwardly stumble down the sidewalks together en mass.
2) Allergies.
I have no allergies in Massachusetts. I was born and raised in a literal forest and that surrounding flora and I have an understanding that I don't antagonize them, and they don't antagonize me. Not so in Rome. Rome met me and said, "That tiny nose of yours looks way too not-inflamed". And thus, I have become my father by adopting his enormous sneezes that wake the dead. So, If you're traveling this spring, when the hay fever kicks in, now you know. Plus, you'll also get to wade through the matrix that is foreign pharmacies. Italy believes very strongly in organic, natural, herbal remedies. Italy also believes that the underlying cause for 99.9% of all illness is either a) going out with wet hair or b) suffering from a "bad wind". Like, it was windy and my neck was exposed and now I have kidney failure. Do you know what they prescribe for kidney failure here? Honey. HONEY!
3) Unpredictable weather.
Spring time in Italy is now a game of Russian roulette. Should I wear my down-coat or my linen tank top? Should I bring my umbrella or just sunscreen? WHO KNOW!? Yes, Italy likes to surprise-attack you with all kind of weather. In the morning, you are jauntily skipping along, sun high in the sky, and then 20 minutes later it's hailing so hard it looks like snow. I was just in Paris, and Paris in the spring is predictable: rain. It will rain and you will go eat cheese and drink wine and always have your umbrella with you. The end. In Rome...it's a mine field. I've become a kind of urban nomad, carrying around amenities with me everywhere so I'm prepared for either a flood or drought. But that's because I am Susie Can Do Everything Over-Achiever. Italians prefer to just not do the thing they were going to do and simply rationalize "It was raining. How could I go to work? Water was everywhere!"
4) Tourists.
We all know, tourists everywhere are the worst. But next weekend is Easter. Pilgrims from around the globe are migrating here for Holy Week. At least with normal tourists I can feel rightfully disgusted at their behavior when they take up too much space on the side walk or yell loudly on the bus, or stop to take pictures of EVERYTHING. But, when those tourists are hundreds of nuns coming to pay homage to the Pope and the miracle of the resurrection, now I am the intolerant jerk. Here I am, boozing it up in the Eternal City and these Christian devotees are dedicating their life to service and poverty and chastity. I have made it a priority to avoid ALL those things and now I'm surrounded by people who make it their daily life. So, yes, Spring is also a time to feel bad about your life choices. Remorse, reflection, REPENT! Cry.
5) Eating all varieties of cute tiny animals in chocolate and marshmallow versions.
There is a brief respite in the calendar between Valentine's Day and Easter where you look in the mirror and ask yourself "How did it come to this?" You ate yourself nearly to death during Christmas, drank all the alcohol during New Years, and gave into all the heart-shaped truffle-filled chocolate during February. Then you have a intervention with yourself and stop. eating. everything. And for a while, you do survive on just kale and telling everyone about your new diet and how great you feel and how they should really try it. And then... chocolate. eggs. Chocolate eggs everywhere. Chocolate eggs the size of your head! Eggs surrounded by a tiny army of marshmallow baby fauna: chicks, bunnies, fawns, baby everything. Did I mention you suddenly notice that every woman on the planet is now pregnant as well? Babies, of all species, are everywhere and it overwhelms you to the point you just console your senses with every possible variety of chocolate egg: dark chocolate, chocolate with nuts, white chocolate, milk chocolate, chocolate with fruit, chocolate with spicy pepper, chocolate with mint. I'm waiting for chocolate flavored Pepto-Bismol at this point.
