So I've been in Italy
all of 10 days now (so essentially an expert right?). In this time, I’ve spent some of my
time trying to learn what I can about life in Italy before packing myself, my
husband, my kids, and my home up to embrace “La Dolce Vita”.
While there is a lot to learn, here are the ABC’s of
what I've gathered so far….
Apertivo
Ah – god love the apertivo! The pre-dinner
drink most bars serve before the restaurants open for dinner (at 7:30 mind you,
no early bird specials here!) is not only a great part of any culture – but the
best part is that it comes with food! Over the course of a few
apertivos we had bread, chips, salami, cheese, olives, cheetos and
hotdogs. For those of you who know my husband’s
affinity for a pre-drink cocktail and my kid’s love of cheetos and hotdogs – I
anticipate many Kissack family apertivos in our future (with a set of Uno or Go Fish cards
for entertainment).
Bidet
So Bidets are everywhere – at least in all of
the bathrooms in all of the houses we saw on our HHI tour. I’m not opposed to the bidet (who knows maybe we will come to enjoy them?) –
but I clearly I haven't fully embraced the concept since I used a bidet towel to wipe my face (and made Shane do the same).
We went to one of the
local work out facilities and had been advised by my colleague to bring towels
with us because the gym didn't provide; before heading out I grabbed the
smallest two towels from the bathroom of our hotel room.
It wasn't until the following morning it dawned on me that I spent the
entire workout wiping my face with the same towel that many others previously
wiped their ass with….. I haven’t done laundry in Italy yet
but I really hope bleach is involved.
Coffee &
Cappuccino Rules
First let it be said, the coffee is exceptional in Italy. And
while I do love my grande Americano in a venti cup and don’t often leave my
house without my to-go cup these are things you won’t see in Italy. The very biggest coffee here is about
the size of a Starbuck’s tall and coffee is not meant for "on the go" but
rather standing at the coffee bar socializing. That
being said, the biggest surprise was learning that no self respecting
Italian drinks a cappuccino after 11am; the cappuccino is strictly a breakfast
beverage. If you want
coffee and milk in the afternoon, you should order a macchiato. For more rules on Italian coffee drinking - look here.
Again, lots more to learn, embrace and share. These were some of the highlights so far!
Ciao!
