1. Italy is a country synonymous with wines and spirits, but very few Italians will ever have more than a glass of wine and when Italians drink, they usually drink alcohol only if it is accompanied by food at either a main meal or during that is known as the “Aperativo” hour which usually starts at approximately 17:30 / 5:30 PM and goes to approximately 19:30 / 7:30 PM.
One of the most popular drinks during the Aperativo hour is the “Spritz” cocktail which is made with Prosecco and either Aperol or Campari which are 2 Italian bitter style drinks that is paired with Prosecco, tonic water and garnishing.
At locations throughout Italy there is now “Cena’Aperativo” which is like an Italian Tapas experience where for 5-10 Euro (including the cost of your drink) you can sample things from the buffet.
2. Bars are everywhere – but a “Bar” is a coffee shop and you aren’t finding any Starbucks here. It’s quite customary for bars to also sell food, cigarettes and pastries, particularly croissants “cornetti” warm croissants filled with jams or creams in the morning.
3. It is customary when you walk into a local place to say “Buongiorno” or Good day to everybody in the place.
4. The number of people! Italy is a very small country for the size of its population! There are over 56 Million people in Italy and so you should anticipate to see people everywhere!
5. Store hours, especially in the smaller towns are only open from 10:00 AM until 13:00 PM and then again after 16:00 PM to about 19:00 PM. Pretty much everybody in Italy takes a siesta from 1:00 PM until 4:00 PM.
6. Sitting down at a table – if you are at a bar or cafe, they are going to charge you a seating cost “coperto” to sit down, which is usually about 2 Euro per person.
7. Water is not offered complimentary at any restaurant. You need to order a bottle of either “Frizzante con Gas” or Naturale – Frizzy or Natural water.
8. Meals are served in a much different way and usually you need to offer several plates, such as: Appetizer – First Course – Second Course – Side Dish – Desert. They are quite reasonably priced each course, however nothing is usually served as one plate, except for the pasta dishes or pizza and the cost of high quality food in Italy is very reasonable.
9. Italians as a general rule do not use dryers. They wash their clothes in a washing machine (Which usually takes about 1 hour) and then they hang their clothes to dry.
10. How geographically varied the country of Italy is! In Italy, you can travel from one region to the next and quite literally feel like you are traveling from one country to the next. The entire country is beautiful… and different from one region to the next. You can see and experience many different locations in Italy on our website.
