Italy 101

So I am uber excited because one of my closest friends will be coming to Italy and visiting me! It's the first time anyone will have seen our home in Southern Italy and see my life here! One of my sisters and cousin came but unfortunately they saw my life in Siena but never got to see our home or my family here in Campania. =( So, I hope to make this trip great for my friend and make sure she is taken care of and making it as less stressful as possible being the first time for her in Europe. So as I was thinking of what she needed to know, I figured it would be great to list all the basic stuff that tourists need to know in regards to customs and the norm here.

ITALY 101

RESTAURANTS

1. Tip and service charge is normally covered on the bill under "Coperto" and you are charged between 1€ to 3€ per person. However, some restaurants have started charging you a percentage of the total. Keep a lookout for these on your bill. If these are covered, you are not required to pay tip but it is always nice to tip them if they were good to you. Of course, in the larger cities, they do expect us "Americans" to be tippers and many have caught on to that and do try to capitalize on tourists.

2. There is no tap water. You can order bottled water, either flat or sparkling -> "Naturale" or "Frizzante/Gassata".

3. Italians do not use ice! Well in their homes in the summer... but do not expect any of your beverages to come with ice and please do not ask for ice either.

4. Doggie bags do not exist! It is frowned upon to take home any food you did not finish. Normally, you finish it up or you leave it. Frowned upon... I don't think I have even seen a to-go box here with the exception of the Chinese restaurants. Go figure...

5. If you want to get a coffee at the bar, you have to pay the cashier first and then take your receipt to the bar area for the barista. Here, you can ask for a glass of water at no charge IF you ordered a drink there.

6. If you want to order wine, their table wine (Vino da Tavola) is usually good if you don't want to get the more expensive bottles. You order these in half liters.... either half liter (mezzo-litro - listed as 0,5 L) or liter (un litro - listed as 1 L).

SUPERMARKET

1. If you do choose to go in a supermarket, you will see that you are required to put 50 cents, 1€ or 2€ to use one of their shopping carts. You can push the coin out again when you return the cart from where you got it. (Definitely makes it unnecessary to have cart guys and people pushing them blocks and blocks away.)

2. You will notice that the cashiers all have seats. Although it makes sense for them not to stand, it was very weird for me since we are so use to seeing our cashiers stand.

3. They will almost always ask you for exact change and coins even when they have a cashier full of change! And then if you don't have change, they almost sneer at you with irritation.

4. Sometimes they round up or down a couple pennies so they won't give you your exact change. Mind you it is only one penny here and there, but it's also not right because it is still money.

ROADS

1. In any of the large cities, remember what your mom ingrained in your head. Always look both left and right before crossing! Doesn't matter if the light is red for the cars or there is a pedestrian walkway, proceed with caution!

2. You have to take notice of how creative Italians get with their parking. Up a curb here, slanted there, it's an art...

3. If you drive, which I highly suggest you don't unless you are in rural areas, note that Italians are great at driving defensively but also do not obey the rules of the road. You will almost never see them drive within their own lane and honking comes as second nature to them.

4. Don't worry, they drive on the same side of the road as us. But, the United Kingdom doesn't... So don't forget to read the sidewalks to remind you to look right or left.

5. The freeways here are called "autostrada" and they are like toll roads to us. You need to retrieve a ticket to enter and pay when you exit.

LINES

1. If you are in line to buy a ticket, or buy bread or something of the sort and there are a lot of people and no number tickets to pull, be certain you will have someone who will cut in line like it's nobody's business. Drives me crazy!

PRICING

1. Items listed on price tags are the price you pay. Taxes are already incorporated into the listed price so you don't have to account for another 9.25%.

2. Pricing is listed differently than in America. Let's just say commas are used instead of periods, and periods are used instead of commas. For example, $5,678.50 here in America would be written in Europe as €5.678,50 .... just in case you get confused.

Okay those are just a few I could think of at the top of my head. Italy is a beautiful place and there is no doubt you will have a great experience but like in any foreign place, the customs are different and tourists must always be cautious and on guard. Just a general rule of thumb for anyone who travels. Hope this helps a bit! Feel free to ask me any random questions you may have. =)