One of the things we enjoy about Italy is that generally things here are done on a much smaller scale than we’re used to. Take grocery stores, for example; even in major cities not many have actual shopping trolleys. That’s because most often the store itself is so small and the aisles so narrow that there’s just no way to get a shopping trolley in there.

And we’re not talking here about ‘mini-marts’, these places are billed as ‘supermarkets’. We went to one recently where the entry door swung open right at the back of the person sitting at the (only) checkout. As we arrived one of his colleagues happened to be stacking the shelves just there, so we waited outside until she was finished and there was space enough for us to squeeze through the door. This Italian experience is – for me particularly – an ongoing and welcome lesson in practising patience.

The upside of all this is that there are countless traditional markets selling everything from food to clothing to trendy designer jewellery. It’s a much more interesting way to shop, and it’s fun too. Now that we’re back in Rome, we’ve been making the most of the opportunity to poke around some of the city’s best-known and oldest markets.