Italian Showers: A Lesson in Spatial Awareness

At some point in Italian history, someone looked at the average dimensions of the human body and thought, You know what would be perfect? A glass box approximately three centimeters larger than that.

And thus, I assume, the Italian shower was born.

I've spent enough time traveling around Italy that the tiny shower shouldn't surprise me anymore. And yet every time I step into one, I'm reminded of just how little space is apparently required to call something a shower.

Turning around requires strategy. Washing your hair requires careful elbow placement. And then there's the glass.

Why does the glass always feel so incredibly fragile? You're already attempting to maneuver a wet human body inside a space barely larger than said human body, except now you're surrounded by glass that feels like it might shatter if you look at it too aggressively.

So you tuck your elbows in. You rotate carefully. You develop a level of spatial awareness normally reserved for parallel parking.

And inevitably, you bump the temperature control.

Suddenly, the perfectly acceptable shower you've spent the last five minutes carefully calibrating becomes approximately the temperature of the surface of the sun. Choose your next move carefully. There isn't exactly anywhere to go.

This isn't a complaint. At this point, I consider the tiny shower part of the Italy experience. I've encountered enough of them over the years that I know exactly what I'm getting myself into when I open that glass door.

And really, that's part of travel. Not everything is going to look, work or feel exactly like it does at home. Nor should it.

Sometimes that means discovering a tradition you wish you could bring home with you.

Sometimes it means discovering muscles you didn't know you had while attempting to wash your hair without touching any of the four walls surrounding you.

So if you're planning your first trip to Italy, I'm not telling you to fear the Italian shower.

I'm simply telling you to prepare.

Travel broadens the mind.

Italian showers teach spatial awareness.