Bologna is a good city to study Italian in, because the lack of tourists means that the locals still find 'stranieri' interesting and, more importantly, amusing. They make a lot of effort to talk to us, repeating things slowly when necessary and acting as though they are our personal Italian tutors. From people on the bus who make sure that we are able to understand their (apparently not private) conversation, to shop keepers who tell us what we need to pay in English and then repeat the amount slowly in Italian, everybody helps us with our Italian.
Today I bought a basil plant from my local grocery man. An old lady nearby smiled at me, pointed at the plant and said (I thought) "per fiore" which would mean "for the flower?". I replied "no, per mangiare" (to eat) and she laughed, and said, more slowly, "no, proFIUME" (perfume) which meant, basically "can I smell your basil plant". Totally random, but I laughed and said "si, certo". Laughing back at me, she smelt the basil with great relish, then winked at me and tottered away muttering in amusement "per mangiare, ha ha ha!".
These somewhat embarrassing moments are becoming more common because I am speaking more Italian as my confidence grows (and is subsequently shot to pieces!) but they're fun. I like that I make someone laugh at least once a day!
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