Unusual things

Blog written in 2024 – posted in July 2025

As I said before, I started collecting photos of toilets eight years ago, 2018. At that time some things that I came upon in the toilets were unusual for me.

Water valve…..

Photo: 31.07.2018. Italy

Photo: 13.10.2018. Roma, Italy

Photo: 13.04.2022. Vernazza, Italy

An unusual thing about Italian toilets is the water valve! A good old-fashioned water valve lets water flow as needed. So you turn on the water with your foot while you wash your hands. Well, as unusual as it may be, it’s a very economical way to save water, and as soon as you take your foot off the valve, the water stops flowing.

Just last week I was in the same toilet from the first photo. A non-Italian family came in and they didn’t know how to turn on the water in the sink. They waved their hands under the faucet, thinking they were sensors, and waited for the water to start flowing, looking behind the faucet, tapping on the surface. They were very confused. I must have looked just like them when I first encountered those water valves.😂😂😂

Strange place for an essential button

Photo: 29.03.2019. Italy

FLUSH THE TOILET

If it wasn’t written below, I wouldn’t know how to flush.

Very unusual toilet bowl…. or very unusual sink🤔😉😀

Photo: 10.11.2019. Ajaccio, France

Photo: 10.11.2019. Ajaccio, France

It was obviously a tiny toilet boot, funny but very economical way of using a space.

Another unusual thing are separate taps for hot and cold water. We used to have them many, many years ago. Today everywhere is a water tap in which hot and cold water are mixed. These are stuck in time! Cool!

Photo: 19.11.2021. Mdina, Malta

Photo: 20.11.2021. Victoria, Malta

Almost on the street

I must admit this is not something that I come across often.

Photo: 30.06.2018. Siena, Italy

Photo: 30.06.2018. Siena, Italy

In the toilet above, there was a window across the entire wall near to a toilet bowl. The window was level with a street. It was a hot day and it was nice to have the window open, but my mind was so preoccupied with wondering if someone would walk down that street and stand in front of the window…….. No wonder they put iron bars on the window.

Somehow it was uneasy to pee, or it’s only me nagging.

Photo: 11.09.2024. private appartement, Pescia, Italy

Photo: 11.09.2024. private appartement, Pescia, Italy

This toilet seat is not so much unusual, per say, but idea of having pins on your toilet seat is hilarious to me 😂😂😂 Maybe they were suffering from hemorrhoids at the time they bought the toilet seat.