Pepedoro (The Golden Pepper)

I went out by myself on Tuesday night.  It was the first time in…2 1/2 years that I’ve gone to a discoteca without Luca!  And the second time that I’ve gone out by myself–hello, Shira, can we say “Need to get out more”.

I met a couple of colleagues at Pepedoro for a drink and an evening of 70’s & 80’s music.  It was pretty fun.  Though how the whole Italian club thing is still confusing for me.  In the states you pretty much always have to show your id at the door and pay.  There were a couple of security-guard looking types at the door, so I whipped out my ID and they were like, “uuhh…you don’t have to show that to me…”  Yeah, I guess they were just there for the music…

Then at the second door there were more security-guard looking types, but I decided to play it cool and not show them my id.  I knew that the entrance fee was €5 so I got my money out, but they guy just gave me a gold credit card type dealy and shoed me into the door.  I was like, “Sweet!,” I don’t even have to pay the entrance fee.  Then, you go in and there are like a maze of corridors (so, of course I had no idea which one to take).  Eventually I found the coat check, which was extremely complicated.   They give you a number, which you take to the bar and pay €1,50.  The bar gives you a bunch of receipts, one for a free drink (score!), one for coat check validation, and one to get out of the club with.  All I have to say is, it’s a good thing I didn’t start drinking before I went to the club, because I definitely would have had even more difficulty getting through the whole entrance process!

The music was okay, though there were a lot of songs that I think were big in Europe in the 70s-80s that never made it in the states.  I had a good mojito and danced to the songs I knew.  They just passed a new law in Italy that clubs have to stop serving liquor at 2am.  I think this is going to change Italian nightlife quite a bit.  Usually people go out at 11:30/midnight and stay out until 5 or 6 in the morning; then they go to a cafè for an espresso and a croissant.  But with no liquor after 2am, I imagine things will get started earlier and finish earlier.  Or else people will just bring booze from home and hide it in their purses…