This is one of the many wonderful things about traveling.
When 25-year-old traveler Sarah Margaret opened the windows of her Italian apartment, she didn’t expect them to open both sideways and inward.
“I thought I broke the window at first,” she quipped in a TikTok video that’s now racked up over a million views. That small moment of confusion kicked off what became a charming tour through all the little details of Italian daily life her "American mind couldn't comprehend."
In an interview with Newsweek, she said that she had spent a month in northern Italy, splitting her time between vacation and work. Her final stop was an apartment in Turin, a picturesque city near Milan. From there, she decided to document the things that made her stop and say, “Wait, what?”
The first mystery: those ingenious tilting windows. Turn the handle one way, they crack open from the top; another way, they swing open like a door. “Wild to me,” she said, equal parts baffled and impressed.
Then came the washer-dryer combo that didn’t exactly…dry.
“It spins the clothes and gets a lot of water out, but it’s not like a dryer I’ve ever seen before," she explained. Instead, she found herself air-drying her laundry for an entire month, something she quickly learned is just part of Italian life.
Down in the comments, folks confirmed that yes, while there might be machine settings to remove some water from freshly washed clothes, air-drying was still a way of life.
“These options on the washing machines are ‘centrifuga.’ It takes a lot of water off so that they’re gonna air dry faster,” one viewer explained.
She also noticed the air conditioning felt, shall we say, gentler than in the United States, something she did come to appreciate after a few weeks of acclimating.
Continuing into the kitchen, she showed off a sleek induction stove. “I struggled at first, but once I figured it out, it felt very fancy," she admitted.
Other surprises included tiny trash bins—barely big enough for a few scraps—implying how serious Italians are about recycling and composting, along with equally tiny elevators. She even filmed herself in one, which was barely wide enough to fit her outstretched arms. “It blows my mind every single time,” she said.
And let’s not forget the bidet next to the toilet. “I’m not elaborating on this one, but it’s definitely been an experience," she teased.
But her favorite “quirk” really sums up what’s so magical about Italy to Americans in the first place.
“I can smell pizza cooking from my window,” she said, grinning. “There are hundreds of restaurants within walking distance and a grocery store right next door. I’ve never lived anywhere this walkable. It’s one of the most eye-opening experiences I’ve ever had.”
Between that and being able to look out a window—albeit a confusing one—and see gorgeous city architecture…seems like Italy’s got life figured out.
A view of gorgeous Italy. Photo credit: Canva
After her month abroad, she told Newsweek that she left Italy with a deeper appreciation for the slower, friendlier, and more intentional rhythm of everyday life there. Shopkeepers remembered her. Neighbors said hello. “Traveling alone can be peaceful but also very lonely, so I was extra thankful for those little interactions," she shared.
Having grown up in the Midwest and now getting to live abroad in the Caribbean while have a job that frequently requires travel, Sarah has made it her goal to see as many corners of the world as possible—25 countries so far. As far as Italy’s concerned, Turin has stayed with her most.
“It’s not crowded with tourists the same way other Italian cities are in the summer," she said. "It was peaceful."
Whether you are in a touristy area or in a lesser-known hidden gem, staying in a new place and learning about different ways of life also feels like a mini-adventure.
A woman is getting angry at her coworker.via 
A man with tape over his mouth.via 
A husband is angry with his wife. via 
a man sitting at a desk with his head on his arms Photo by 
Can a warm cup of tea help you sleep better? If you believe it, then yes. Photo by 
Three women sit on a blanket in the park. 
Two women engaging in a pleasant conversation inside a coffee shop
Two men engaging in a peaceful disagreement.
Resurfaced video of French skier's groin incident has people giving the announcer a gold medal
"The boys took a beating on that one."
Downhill skiing is a sport rife with injuries, but not usually this kind.
A good commentator can make all the difference when watching sports, even when an event goes smoothly. But it's when something goes wrong that great announcers rise to the top. There's no better example of a great announcer in a surprise moment than when French skier Yannick Bertrand took a gate to the groin in a 2007 super-G race.
Competitive skiers fly down runs at incredible speeds, often exceeding 60 mph. Hitting something hard at that speed would definitely hurt, but hitting something hard with a particularly sensitive part of your body would be excruciating. So when Bertrand slammed right into a gate family-jewels-first, his high-pitched scream was unsurprising. What was surprising was the perfect commentary that immediately followed.
This is a clip you really just have to see and hear to fully appreciate:
- YouTube youtu.be
It's unclear who the announcer is, even after multiple Google inquiries, which is unfortunate because that gentleman deserves a medal. The commentary gets better with each repeated viewing, with highlights like:
"The gate the groin for Yannick Bertrand, and you could hear it. And if you're a man, you could feel it."
"Oh, the Frenchman. Oh-ho, monsieurrrrrr."
"The boys took a beating on that one."
"That guy needs a hug."
"Those are the moments that change your life if you're a man, I tell you what."
"When you crash through a gate, when you do it at high rate of speed, it's gonna hurt and it's going to leave a mark in most cases. And in this particular case, not the area where you want to leave a mark."
Imagine watching a man take a hit to the privates at 60 mph and having to make impromptu commentary straddling the line between professionalism and acknowledging the universal reality of what just happened. There are certain things you can't say on network television that you might feel compelled to say. There's a visceral element to this scenario that could easily be taken too far in the commentary, and the inherent humor element could be seen as insensitive and offensive if not handled just right.
The announcer nailed it. 10/10. No notes.
The clip frequently resurfaces during the Winter Olympic Games, though the incident didn't happen during an Olympic event. Yannick Bertrand was competing at the FIS World Cup super-G race in Kvitfjell, Norway in 2007, when the unfortunate accident occurred. Bertrand had competed at the Turin Olympics the year before, however, coming in 24th in the downhill and super-G events.
As painful as the gate to the groin clearly as, Bertrand did not appear to suffer any damage that kept him from the sport. In fact, he continued competing in international downhill and super-G races until 2014.
According to a 2018 study, Alpine skiing is a notoriously dangerous sport with a reported injury rate of 36.7 per 100 World Cup athletes per season. Of course, it's the knees and not the coin purse that are the most common casualty of ski racing, which we saw clearly in U.S. skier Lindsey Vonn's harrowing experiences at the 2026 Olympics. Vonn was competing with a torn ACL and ended up being helicoptered off of the mountain after an ugly crash that did additional damage to her legs, requiring multiple surgeries (though what caused the crash was reportedly unrelated to her ACL tear). Still, she says she has no regrets.
As Bertrand's return to the slopes shows, the risk of injury doesn't stop those who live for the thrill of victory, even when the agony of defeat hits them right in the rocks.