I think about Italy a lot.
The other day Clair Labutta sent me a message through facebook asking me if I had any advice about Italy. This is what I ended up writing.
1. Travel light. I know the airlines have a limit of 2 fifty pound bags, but almost everywhere in Italy just doesn't accommodate for that sort of luggage. So I'd recommend not bringing a different set of clothes for every day that you're there. And bring an overnight bag or smaller traveling bag in case you go somewhere on the weekend. Because bringing that large suitcase just will not be to your advantage. Also, in the city, you'll want to travel as light as possible. That would be for security (so you can keep in control what you have), and just because it's mainly a country where you walk a lot and it gets burdensome to carry stuff around. And don't bring your passport everywhere you go. It's better to keep it either in the safe in the hotel or wherever you're staying.
2. Learn the language. I'm not saying be fluent, but maybe take a class before you go or maybe a self-learning tool to help you out? I have Rosetta Stone for Italian, and it's amazing helping me with the language and not making a fool of myself anymore when I'm trying to speak Italian. So I'd definitely recommend that, but at least learn simple phrases like all the greetings (buon giorno [morning and afternoon] and buona sera [evening]). And probably how to order food and how to find where you're going. "Posso avere..." means 'Can I have...' and "Dov'e..." means 'where is...' Everything else you learn might just be beneficial to try and talk with other merchants and maybe just try to make small talk with any locals.
3. Spending money. If you're going for a few weeks, I'd be prepared to bring about 1500 bucks. That would be about a thousand Euro. You don't have to spend it all, but be prepared in case you want to mail anything, need an emergency digital camera in case yours breaks, or you just want to buy a prada belt or something. But definitely be prepared to spend a lot on a meal. If you eat in the city, be careful about sitting outside because it costs extra that they won't tell you in your price. Also, it's typical to leave a 5-10% tip. But when you sit down to eat, a meal will typically be two dishes (first a pasta dish and then a meat dish) and probably a dessert. And when you drink during dinner, the house wine is usually very good. But sitting down and eating will usually cost about 20 Euro. For lunch however, I would recommend eating pizza which is, much cheaper and still very delicious. They do pizza by weight, but about how much you could eat will only cost about 6 Euro. Maybe up to 8 if you include a drink. And drinks by the way could be tricky. Coca cola is the product of choice nearly everywhere you go. If you're outside of Rome, you'll also have to buy water. Be sure you get the Acqua Naturale. That is the normal kind of water. The other kind is like soda water with all the carbonation and it's really gross if you ask me, but who knows, maybe you'll like it.
4. Don't be afraid to try new things. Italy is a great and seriously proud country. Try all you can not to be ignorant of the language or the customs. That would usually include getting up for elderly people on the bus and helping any clergy member that you may come across. But also, don't be afraid to join in the festivals that happen everywhere and hit up the old shops just to see what's inside. It really is amazing. And the people in there will usually be happy to see someone genuinely interested in what they are doing.
5. Stay away from most of the street vendors. They are mostly selling garbage you don't want, and unless you're in Florence, I wouldn't buy bags or any other leather goods from any street vendor.
6. Be prepared for a lot of museums. It's basically a country of artistic history, so you should want to go into a lot of museums. They have museums for everything, but try to get into the big ones like the Vatican Museum, the Uffizi, The Academy, and the Capitoline museums.
7. Italian drivers. They are insane. When you cross the street, be sure to cross it fast and don't stop. Because the drivers are crazy, they really come very close to hitting anyone in the road. They expect you to keep going once you are in the street so they will time it perfectly as to when you will pass in front of their car so they won't have to stop.
8. Personal space is lost. I hope you don't have a big phobia of being too close to people because the trains will be really crowded and basically so will all the streets.
I ended up writing so much about it. I guess it was nice to say all this too. I mean, it's not like everyone you come across is so interested in what happened there and I know they'll just get sick of it when you just keep talking about it over and over again. I guess that's why I'm glad we have this Italian dinner night on mondays with the people who I went to Italy with. We might not talk about Italy all the time, but we all know why we're together at this table and it's nice just to share in all of that. I sometimes wonder if I just have an infatuation with Italy or if I went to other countries, would I be just as excited about them as I was/am with Italy? I really miss it, and I can't wait to [hopefully] go back in the summer of 2009. I really want to make a slideshow w/ music of the trip. Does anyone want to help? Also, I think I want a posterize a couple of my pictures from there. I don't know why I feel this way about it. Usually I try to keep as unemotional as possible. At least for the past few years I have. Maybe it's part of my development in life? I wish I knew.
--Tom
1. Travel light. I know the airlines have a limit of 2 fifty pound bags, but almost everywhere in Italy just doesn't accommodate for that sort of luggage. So I'd recommend not bringing a different set of clothes for every day that you're there. And bring an overnight bag or smaller traveling bag in case you go somewhere on the weekend. Because bringing that large suitcase just will not be to your advantage. Also, in the city, you'll want to travel as light as possible. That would be for security (so you can keep in control what you have), and just because it's mainly a country where you walk a lot and it gets burdensome to carry stuff around. And don't bring your passport everywhere you go. It's better to keep it either in the safe in the hotel or wherever you're staying.
2. Learn the language. I'm not saying be fluent, but maybe take a class before you go or maybe a self-learning tool to help you out? I have Rosetta Stone for Italian, and it's amazing helping me with the language and not making a fool of myself anymore when I'm trying to speak Italian. So I'd definitely recommend that, but at least learn simple phrases like all the greetings (buon giorno [morning and afternoon] and buona sera [evening]). And probably how to order food and how to find where you're going. "Posso avere..." means 'Can I have...' and "Dov'e..." means 'where is...' Everything else you learn might just be beneficial to try and talk with other merchants and maybe just try to make small talk with any locals.
3. Spending money. If you're going for a few weeks, I'd be prepared to bring about 1500 bucks. That would be about a thousand Euro. You don't have to spend it all, but be prepared in case you want to mail anything, need an emergency digital camera in case yours breaks, or you just want to buy a prada belt or something. But definitely be prepared to spend a lot on a meal. If you eat in the city, be careful about sitting outside because it costs extra that they won't tell you in your price. Also, it's typical to leave a 5-10% tip. But when you sit down to eat, a meal will typically be two dishes (first a pasta dish and then a meat dish) and probably a dessert. And when you drink during dinner, the house wine is usually very good. But sitting down and eating will usually cost about 20 Euro. For lunch however, I would recommend eating pizza which is, much cheaper and still very delicious. They do pizza by weight, but about how much you could eat will only cost about 6 Euro. Maybe up to 8 if you include a drink. And drinks by the way could be tricky. Coca cola is the product of choice nearly everywhere you go. If you're outside of Rome, you'll also have to buy water. Be sure you get the Acqua Naturale. That is the normal kind of water. The other kind is like soda water with all the carbonation and it's really gross if you ask me, but who knows, maybe you'll like it.
4. Don't be afraid to try new things. Italy is a great and seriously proud country. Try all you can not to be ignorant of the language or the customs. That would usually include getting up for elderly people on the bus and helping any clergy member that you may come across. But also, don't be afraid to join in the festivals that happen everywhere and hit up the old shops just to see what's inside. It really is amazing. And the people in there will usually be happy to see someone genuinely interested in what they are doing.
5. Stay away from most of the street vendors. They are mostly selling garbage you don't want, and unless you're in Florence, I wouldn't buy bags or any other leather goods from any street vendor.
6. Be prepared for a lot of museums. It's basically a country of artistic history, so you should want to go into a lot of museums. They have museums for everything, but try to get into the big ones like the Vatican Museum, the Uffizi, The Academy, and the Capitoline museums.
7. Italian drivers. They are insane. When you cross the street, be sure to cross it fast and don't stop. Because the drivers are crazy, they really come very close to hitting anyone in the road. They expect you to keep going once you are in the street so they will time it perfectly as to when you will pass in front of their car so they won't have to stop.
8. Personal space is lost. I hope you don't have a big phobia of being too close to people because the trains will be really crowded and basically so will all the streets.
I ended up writing so much about it. I guess it was nice to say all this too. I mean, it's not like everyone you come across is so interested in what happened there and I know they'll just get sick of it when you just keep talking about it over and over again. I guess that's why I'm glad we have this Italian dinner night on mondays with the people who I went to Italy with. We might not talk about Italy all the time, but we all know why we're together at this table and it's nice just to share in all of that. I sometimes wonder if I just have an infatuation with Italy or if I went to other countries, would I be just as excited about them as I was/am with Italy? I really miss it, and I can't wait to [hopefully] go back in the summer of 2009. I really want to make a slideshow w/ music of the trip. Does anyone want to help? Also, I think I want a posterize a couple of my pictures from there. I don't know why I feel this way about it. Usually I try to keep as unemotional as possible. At least for the past few years I have. Maybe it's part of my development in life? I wish I knew.
--Tom