The Italian Postal Service

I thought I would just take a second to express how much I despise the Italian Postal Service (Poste Italiane), and I will try to keep it brief.

First off, the post office is ALWAYS crowded, so you have to take a number (which is actually kinda a relief, so you don't have to physically stand in line). Even to buy stamps you must take a number--there are no stamp vending machines--and on any given day it is a given that you will have to wait AT LEAST 30 minutes to an hour to get to the counter.

When you get to the counter the clerk is almost always grumpy (go figure) and typically tries to sell you limited edition post office souvenirs, which almost certainly contributes to the long wait times.

Also, the mail itself can be unpredictable: as of last week (Dec. 29), we had only received 1 out of 5 holiday packages that were sent to us. Even Mom's, which was mailed 3 weeks earlier, had not yet reached us. (Cards, however, were timely).

Yesterday was the icing on the cake. I found myself taking a number at the post office to buy stamps, of course, and when I got to the window the clerk was EXTREMELY rude, which upset me for the rest of the day. What is more is that the price to mail a letter to the US increased almost unexpectedly from o.85 euro to 1.60. All destinations, including within Italy, nearly doubled in price. This seems outlandish--even in the US, though the price increases fairly often, it is usually only by a couple cents. It never doubles! There was nothing on the news, no big signs, no warnings on the post boxes, only a little piece of paper with fine print hanging near the back of the post office. The increase was on January 3rd, so I hope the bunch of cards I sent off a few days ago made it through!

I hope no one is expecting any post cards or packages from us for a little while, because we plan to never step foot inside another Italian post office again. And heaven help anyone who is traveling here and finds themselves taking a number.