The ABC's on Life in Italy

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!