ADDRESSES These are
usually written as the street
name followed by the number -
eg Via Roma 69.
Interno
refers to the flat number - eg
interno 5 (often
abbreviated as int.).
Confusingly, some towns
(notably Florence and Genoa)
have two parallel systems for
numbering properties, one for
shops and restaurants and
another for businesses and
private residences; sometimes
a shop or restaurant is
suffixed by the letter
"r", meaning that
Via Garibaldi 15r might be in
an entirely different place
from Via Garibaldi 15. Watch
out for addresses with
"s/n" rather than a
street number, which refers to
the fact that they have no
number, or are
senza numero
.
AIRPORT TAX Nearly
always included in the price
of your ticket.
BARGAINING Not
really on in shops and
restaurants, though you'll
find you can get a
"special price" for
some rooms and cheap hotels if
you're staying a few days or
off season, and that things
like boat or bike rental and
guided tours (especially out
of season) are negotiable. In
markets, you can in theory
haggle for everything except
food.
BEACHES Most beaches
are clearly signposted spiaggia
but you'll have to pay for
access to the best parts of
the better ones (referred to
as lidos), plus a few thousand
lire to rent a sun bed and
shade and use the showers all
day. Although technically the
few metres immediately by the
water cannot be sectioned off,
it's debatable whether it's
worth the hassle of trying to
enforce your rights. During
winter most beaches look like
rubbish dumps: it's not worth
anyone's while to clean them
until the season starts at
Easter. Some beaches,
particularly along the north
coast of Sicily are prone to
invasions of jellyfish ( meduse
) from time to time. These are
not dangerous, but can cause
quite a sting, so take local
advice and believe, if you
will, the Italian train of
thought that they are a sign
of unpolluted water.
CAMPING GAZ Easy
enough to buy for the small,
portable, camping stoves,
either from a hardware store (
ferramenta ) or
camping/sports shops; remember
you can't carry canisters on
aeroplanes.
CHILDREN Children
are adored in Italy and will
be made a fuss of in the
street, and welcomed and
catered for in bars and
restaurants (though be warned
that there's no such thing as
a smoke-free environment, with
chain-smoking the norm).
Hotels normally charge around
thirty percent extra to put a
bed or cot in your room,
though kids pay less on trains
. The only hazards when
travelling with children in
summer are the heat and sun.
Very high factor suncreams are
quite difficult to find
although chemists usually sell
sunblock. Bonnets or straw
hats are plentiful in local
markets. Take advantage of the
less intense periods -
mornings and evenings - for
travelling, and use the quiet
of siesta-time to recover
flagging energy. The rhythms
of the southern climate soon
modify established patterns,
and you'll find it more
natural carrying on later into
the night, past normal
bedtimes. In summer, it's not
unusual to see Italian
children out at midnight, and
not looking any the worse for
it.
CIGARETTES The state
monopoly brand - MS, jokingly
referred to as Morte Sicura
("certain death") or
Merda Secca
("dried shit") - are
the most widely smoked
cigarettes, strong and
aromatic and selling for
around ฃ4200/?2.17 for a pack
of twenty. Younger people tend
to smoke imported brands these
days - all of which are
slightly more expensive, at
around ฃ4500-5500/?2.32-2.84
per pack. You buy cigarettes
from tabacchi ,
recognizable by a sign
displaying a white
"T" on a black or
blue background, but not from
bars. After hours you'll have
to use automatic,
hole-in-the-wall vending
machines; these are hardly
more expensive than tabacchi
, accept notes and are found
on practically every street
corner in major cities.
CONTRACEPTION
Condoms ( preservativi,
profilเttici ) are
available over the counter
from all pharmacies (some also
have vending machines after
hours) and some supermarkets;
the pill ( la pํllola
) is available from pharmacies
by prescription only.
DEPARTMENT STORES
There are two main nationwide
chains, Upim and Standa.
Neither is particularly posh,
and they're good places to
stock up on toiletries and
other basic supplies; branches
of both stores sometimes have
a food hall attached.
ELECTRICITY The
supply is 220V, though
anything requiring 240V will
work. Most plugs are three
round pins though you'll find
the older 2-pin plug in some
places: a travel plug adapter
is useful.
GAY AND LESBIAN LIFE
Homosexuality is legal in
Italy, and the age of consent
is 14. The Gay "World
Pride" march took place
in Rome in July 2000, and
although condemned,
predictably enough, by the
pope, the size of the turn-out
(over a quarter of a million)
and the largely sympathetic
press coverage have been read
as signs that homosexuality is
becoming more widely accepted
in Italy. Attitudes are most
tolerant in the northern
cities: Bologna is generally
regarded as the gay capital,
and Milan, Turin and to a
lesser extent Rome all have
well-developed gay scenes;
there are also a few spiagge
gay (gay beaches) dotted
along the coast, and the more
popular gay resorts include
Taormina and Rimini. Away from
the big cities and resorts,
though, activity is more
covert. You'll notice, in the
South especially, that overt
displays of affection between
(all) men - linking arms
during the passeggiata,
kissing in greeting, etc - are
common. The line determining
what's acceptable, however, is
finely drawn. The national gay
organization, ARCI-Gay, Piazza
di Porta Saragozza 2, PO Box
691, 40100 Bologna (tel
051.644.7054, arcigl@iperbole.it
), and at Via dei Mille 23,
Rome (tel 06.446.5839),
affiliated to the youth
section of the ex-Communist
Party, has branches in most
big towns; Babilonia ( www.babilonia.net
) is the national gay
magazine, published
monthly.The Italian lesbian
organization, Collegamento tra
Lesbiche Italiane, is based at
Via San Francesco di Sales 1a,
Rome (tel 06.686.4201), but is
mainly a campaigning force;
ARCI-Lesbica, Via dei Monti di
Petralata 16, (tel
06.418.0369, www.women.it/~arciles/roma
) is a more general
organization and the Web site
has lots of useful links.
LAUNDRIES
Coin-operated laundromats,
sometimes known as tintorie
, are rare outside large
cities, and even there numbers
are sparse. More common is a lavanderia
, a service-wash laundry, but
this will be more expensive.
Although you can usually get
away with it, washing clothes
in your hotel room can cause
an international incident -
simply because the room's
plumbing often can't cope with
all the water. It's better to
ask if there's somewhere you
can wash your clothes.
PUBLIC TOILETS
Almost unheard of outside
train and bus stations, and
usually the only alternative
is to dive discreetly into a
bar or restaurant. In stations
and some smarter
establishments, there might be
an attendant who guards the
facilities, dispenses paper ( carta
) - and expects a tip of a few
hundred lire. Standards have
improved over the last few
years and you'll find most
places to be very clean,
though it's advisable not to
be without your own toilet
roll.
TAKE HOME Top of the
list of many Italian goodies
worth taking home is a caffeteria
- the many-sided coffee-makers
that are surprisingly cheap in
Italy; Upim and Standa usually
have a good selection, as do
markets. Obviously clothes and
shoes make tempting souvenirs,
too, but don't expect any
bargains; in Milan,
especially, prices are
sky-high, though if you're in
the market for designer
threads, this is as cheap a
place as any.
TIME Italy is always
one hour ahead of Britain,
seven hours ahead of US
Eastern Standard Time and ten
hours ahead of Pacific Time.
VACCINATIONS None
required.
WAR CEMETERIES Anzio
and Cassino are just the best
known of a number of fiercely
contested battles on Italian
soil during World War II.
Information and a list of
Allied cemeteries are
available from the
Commonwealth War Graves
Commission, 2 Marlow Rd,
Maidenhead, Berkshire SL6 7DX
(tel 01628/634 221).
WATER Safe
everywhere, including drinking
fountains, although people
often prefer the taste of
bottled water.
