Getting by in Italy

Index

• Food and eating out
• Wine
• Shopping
• Words and Expressions

Food and eating out

Tipping is optional in restaurants, however you should note restaurants usually charge 'coperto' or 'pane e coperto' which covers the costs of cleaning the tablecloth and napkins and bread (pane). The usual Italian custom is that you don’t tip if the owner is serving you.

Otherwise it is in order to leave a small tip to reward good service (upto 10%). Some restaurants in more touristy areas charge a service charge. This may be on top of coperto or instead of. Coperto and service charge should be noted on the menu, and if in doubt you should ask the waiter (cameriere). Our local manager of rental villas and apartments will be delighted to refer you to the nicest restaurants, trattorias and osterias in your area. > Top

Wine

Italy has some wonderful wine areas and most localities produce their own varieties of wine. Some of the better known wine areas are Chianti (Tuscany), Barolo (Piedmont), Valpolicella (Veneto), Lugana (Lake Garda)

In most towns and villages there are shops called 'vinoteca' which are bottleshops in which you can usually also buy a glass of wine from a choice of wines that they are featuring. It's a wonderful way to pass an hour or two and meet some of the locals. Often the vinoteca serve some apetisers - salami and the like to accompany the wine. > Top

Shopping

Market days: Please refer to our house book. Supermarkets and minimarkets are available in most towns and villages. The most interesting experience, however is to be had in the many alimentari (food) stores where you will be greeted by the colour and character of the local villagers. A guide to food stores is as follows:

Official shopping hours can vary in the different regions and during the summer months. Most shops are closed on Sundays, however during high season, usually trade from 8:30 am to 1:00 pm.

Banks respect the hours above except for Saturday when they do not open. There are ample banks and money exchanges in all towns and ATMs are readily available even in small villages.

Post Offices (Ufficio Postale) are located in most villages, and are usually open in the mornings from 8:30 am to 1:30 pm. Stamps (francobollo) are available in all denominations.

Food shops are usually closed on Thursday afternoons, whilst on Monday mornings the barbers and hairdressers (Parrucchiere) have a rest. > Top

Italian Words and Expressions

A few pointers on Italian pronunciation: Most words ending in ‘e’ have a sound like the english phonetic ‘ay’. The use of the vowells ‘e’ and ‘i’ after c and g have a particular pronunciation which is almost opposite to English es.:

• ..ci,.. gi chi jee cappuccino
• ..ce.., ge chay jay

Meanwhile, words which include ‘ch’ or ‘gh’ are pronounced with a soft ‘c’ or ‘g’ eg. Chiesa (keyaysa).

Essential

Greetings

Courtesy

Travel

Medical

Adjectives

Bar

Directions

Eating out Traditions have changed, and there is little differentiation between the the types of restaurants in Italy today. Traditionally, however they were as follow

Generally, the food and pricing still follows this order, however, this is not always the rule.