La Palestra (the gym)
Saturday, May 10th, 2014
I have had a one month membership at this gym once before, about a year and a half ago. It’s not really all that far from where I live – a 3 stop bus ride followed by about a half mile walk. But there’s more to the story of course. I think that I’m becoming a little bit more like an Italian, I’m becoming a little bit “furbo†which variously translates to sly or clever. It is not considered a negative trait at all. You might compare it to someone in the states that manages to talk their way out of a parking or traffic ticket.
In any case I first went to the gym at about the 10th of April to inquire about costs, etc. So a short term membership was quoted as 41 euros a month (if I’m out of the place by 5:00 PM) plus a 25 euro annual membership fee. But the monthly fee always starts at the first of the month. Still, I could have half a month for 27 euros. So, I thought, OK I can do that but I’ll start next Monday so that I will just have a small gap between the end of the two weeks and the start of May. So the following Monday, the 12th, I showed up changed clothes in the locker room upstairs and went downstairs to enroll in my membership. Here’s where the fun begins. There was nobody there to enroll me. The sole person associated with the gym, a personal trainer, said that the secretary shows up at about 10:30 and it was now a little after 9:30. So I did my cardio and weight workout and was just on my way out to the locker room to shower when the secretary showed up. So I showered and just went home. Then I started to think. Hmmm, next Monday is Pasquetta, the day after Easter, so it will be closed anyway. So those 27 euros will only be good for maybe 5 visits. Seems pretty expensive. Let’s see how this goes. So I did the same thing on Wednesday and Friday. Then, deciding not to press my luck I didn’t come back until May 2nd. Now I am a member and patting myself on the back for my “furbizia†(cleverness).
The gyms here are pretty different from the U.S. At the Berkeley YMCA where I’m a member, there is an olympic pool, basketball court, 2 free towels each visit, a sauna and steam room. Lots of exercise machines both for cardio and weight training. The gym opens at 5:00 AM and closes at who knows what hour. Here the gym opens at 9:30, no towels, no soap, tiles on the floor in and on the way to the shower that are as slippery as ice when wet, locker room (well, dressing room with showers) on the 2nd floor with lockers on the first floor. Basically zero amenities and the cost is only about $4 less per month AND as you might imagine this is significantly less expensive than most of the other gyms.
And here are the photos.
The route through the stadium to the gym.
Ah, you have arrived at the gym
Poster on the way up the stairs to the locker, well, dressing room
Welcome to the locker room, gives new meaning to the word “spartan”
The lockers are downstairs – curious arrangement, no?
I think that same bathroom was under repair when I was here 1 1/2 years ago
Is it too much to ask to have a toilet seat? Do people steal these things or something?
The cardio and weight room. Limited, but they do have all of the necessary equipment
And finally the shower with peeling paint, plumbing in disrepair and a floor as slippery as ice. The only place in the world that I wear flip-flops.
