Few tips what to wear (or not to wear) and how to be a waiter’s best friend in Italy.
You’ll be walking a lot and dining out on your holiday in Italy. But you can’t and don’t want to haul your whole wardrobe with you on your travels.
Especially if you are touring around the Europe for the whole summer.
In my previous post How to Survive in Italy as an American I wrote how to avoid cultural misunderstandings and what you should know about manners in Italy.
Let’s continue a bit more on the topic.
Basically you can manage with these ”rules” anywhere in Europe. Same rules for everyone, but I wrote this especially for travelers coming from the US as you guys have asked me the most about traveling in Italy.
Pack
Light.
You will thank yourself shaking your own hand when you are carrying only a small backpack and not hauling a huge luggage over those cobblestoned streets of ancient cities.
Actually the city of Rome has just banned luggages with wheels on historical steps.
So did Venice.
It’s also much more comfortable to fit in a bus with a small carry-on only.
And safer when you don’t have to store your belongings in to a trunk, but to keep them in your sight.
Trust me, you can do it!
I was globetrotting the World for two and half years full-time with a very small 7 kilo carry-on backpack only.
(That would be around 15 pounds.)
A pro camera gear included.
Being a middle-aged woman.
Okay, being a minimalist too, but I’ll preach about that subject more in some other post.
Dresscode
Casual.
That’s about it, unless you are invited to some formal event.
Althought the casual in Europe is different than casual in US.
Sports clothing is not appreciated in the city life.
You don’t need to wear fancy designer clothing, but shorts and tanktops (especially for men) are meant for gym or hiking. Not to be worn in the street and never in a restaurant.
High heels are not necessary.
Not even for women.
I accidentally first typed high hells and that’s actually very describing.
You’ll be walking a lot and your feet would kill you or you them if taking all those 20 k steps in a day trying to look good at the same time.
You don’t have to look like out of the latest issue of Italian Vogue to not to have an issue with Italians.
I do love high heels myself, but sport shoes it is for traveling.
Sneakers are fine also in Italy, but again, maybe not in a fancy restaurant. So consider taking also some nice pair of shoes with you.
Food rules
You’ve propably heard zillions of stories about how to behave in a restaurant in Italy not to make staff shout at your face.
You know these things like never order a salad before the main course, as it’s supposed to be eaten afterwards. And you have to eat a five course meal and not just one plate. And there are strict rules about having certain wine with a certain food and this and that.
So how is it really?
I’d say that today’s generation doesn’t give a s**it about these rules. Neither do they blink an eye when you order a red wine to go with your fish plate and so on.
I’m not a big fan of white wine and my stomach can’t handle beer, so my choices are water and red wine to go with anything. I’ve never got bad experiences of going my way.
Surely some people will gasp for your ”bad manners”, but there are as many rules about food and eating in Italy as there are habitants in that country.
Ok, Italians only drink cappuccino in the morning. But if you feel like having that after your dinner, I don’t think they would resist to bring you one, even if they are wondering how you can really get that big milky thing down after your huge meal.
Also, it’s not very common in Europe to get take-away coffees and eating while walking is a no no.
Some of us do that, but in general it’s not considered as a very nice manner.
No need to eat a 5-course dinner
Like I said in my previous post about surviving in Italy, just eat that pasta or pizza you are lusting for. And you can really eat only that.
No one is able to force down four other portions anyway.
Though it’s polite and ofc fun to have at least two portions.
You could order a appertizer to share with your loved one and then have your own mains and dessert to each of you or again to share.
However you wish and are able to fit in your belly.
You pay, you choose.
Just add two words of Italian you know and keep that smile.
But one thing, wifis do exist in many restaurants, but please please don’t ask for the password before asking for a menu. Also please do not scroll through the Facebook while eating, but concentrate on the culinary art on your plate.
Seriously, approciate the Italian cuisine.
Italians are proud of their food and there is a reason for that.
It’s cooked slowly with love from the purest ingredients.
Spend time while eating it and enjoy.
Avoid tourist traps
That food is amazing anywhere, even in the smallest countryside trattorias.
Actually the food in the small villages is much better than in those ”authentic” so called restaurants in Piazza Navona in Rome, targeted only to trap tourists. In those places they have new customers coming in every day without having to care whether you liked their food or not.
I mean, you are just another stupid American who doesn’t even know how to spell the name of their restaurant to warn your fellow citizens.
Neither do their Chinese chief.
Don’t worry, Italians are charming people, for reals. I love that country and it’s people.
They just get disappointed by the tourists who don’t really respect their culture and especially their food.
You know you’ve made a good job when the waiter brings you some dessert or drink after the meal for free. Often a glass of limoncello, a local lemon liquer on the house.
Pure and authentic Italian food is enough the reason to travel to Italy.
Have you not heard of what Anthony Bourdain said about having only 48 hours in Rome?
If you haven’t, then read my previous post to see the quote.
Pizza isn’t always a local thing
One more thing.
Italian food varies from one area to another.
To get an idea: There are at least thousand different pastas!
Even the tiniest villages have their own.
Please do not complain about your pasta in a risotto area somewhere in the Northern Italy. Do not whine about that tastless pizza in a place that have never seen forno al legna, a pizza baked in a firewood oven like it should be.
You get what you ask for.
But if you ask, locals are happy to help you.
I once asked a waiter who was trying to tempt us to get into his restaurant in Rome if they had a pizza forno al legna.
They didn’t, but he was so happy for me to ask for the ”real thing” that he told us the directions for another place.
And in that restaurant we’ve been eating our pizzas in Rome ever since.
Fresh drinking water right out of the historical fountain
Romans are also exhausted for some bad behaving tourists and for the mess they leave behind.
The Eternal City wants to stay that way and for that they banned eating at historical monuments.
Yet drinking from the fountains is a local habit and water is very pure, but still one more rule: Do not touch the fountain with your mouth, but fill your bottle.
Or do like Romans do and stick your finger to tap to make the water fly high and then catch it into your mouth.
You wouldn’t drink from the same glass with the stranger, right?
Okay, enough lecturing! I’m sure you are curious to know where to eat and whre to sleep in Rome.
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