I’m probably going to be really repetitive here because I glossed over a certain part of the thread. Apologies! but I’m rushed.
Definitely bring slacks instead of jeans. They’re easier to pack, dry out quicker, and you can still find some places (certain churches, for example) that will at least give you the evil eye for denim. At worst, if you’ve got an ornery older gentleman, you might even be forced to change. I didn’t experience the last personally, but I have heard others mention it.
You will be a tourist. Accept this fact and acknowledge it. How do you minimize the Bad Tourist?
a) Look respectable and wear somewhat neutral or tame colors.
b) Use a phrasebook before going out. Most people are more than happy to help you out, but don’t waste their time flipping through the thing in front of them. Know key phrases (“excuse me”, “do you speak english?”, “please” and “thank yous”, etc.) fairly well so you can leap right into what you need. No one expects perfection in language, merely courtesy and respect.
c) Be open to new things. This isn’t America and it shouldn’t be! If you wanted to be in the USA, you wouldn’t be taking a trip so far away. Try their way of doing thing! Try their food! Try their drink! It hasn’t killed them, so it probably won’t kill you.
Basically this all stems from a key mindset: this isn’t your house. A tourist is a guest in someone else’s home, with all the obligations and rights thereof. You have the right to expect a certain amount of tolerance during your stay, but you have the obligation of not abusing that tolerance when you can avoid it.
The Italian rail system is a world of its own. If you plan on using it, you should also plan on certain facts of life. First, it probably will not be on time. Mussolini couldn’t get the trains to run on time and no one else has had much luck since. Second, depending on where you’re headed, it will be packed. I mean packed. You may have the unrivalled opportunity to get to know your seatmates really… intimately. Third, reservations don’t always mean much. They just mean that your seats will be passed over until no others are left, but if you come late… well, your loss entirely. Of course you’re working with a tour group, so I’m pretty sure they know how to work things.
Don’t ever, especially in Rome, let go of anything you value too much. If you set it down, it will be free game. You probably won’t get robbed, but things will vanish into thin air if you let them. Further, don’t let street sellers distract you. Many times (again my experience was mostly in Rome) they work you in teams, with one person in front trying to sell you trinkets while the other slips in from behind and grabs anything easily accessible.
My best purchase to avoid thieves? A neck pouch. It was thin and tough, roughly the size of an unfolded wallet. It could be concealed underneath most shirts without any obvious bulges, and I could fit all my ID as well as the daily stash of money in it. The weight, while not painful, was sufficient to assure me that all my valuables were still on me. Rule of thumb: if it isn’t on your person, make sure it is locked up securely. Really all this is common sense traveling anywhere…
I may come back and add more, but I will also add one last thing:
Well, I think I’m pretty much set. I’ve moved from “stressed and nervous”, to “excited and nervous”, so I guess that’s good. I know I will be fine as soon as I board the plane. My only real worry now is that I will miss my son (6 yo) too much to have fun.
I’ve been listening to Italian language lessons on CD, so I’m prepared to speak at least the basic phrases. Also, I’ve learned how to ask if something has mushrooms and if I can get it “senza funghi.” Mushrooms are the only thing I really, really can’t get down without gagging and I don’t think puking into my dinner would be great for anyone involved.
Good advice. My Torinese cousin even knows makes & which models of buses are prefered by pickpockets, due to the ease of escape. But you won’t notice them at the time. And me and a friend spent an entertaining hour sat in a cafe in Venice, watching street ‘merchants’ at work in just the way you describe. Still, I’ve noticed three (foiled) attempts to pick my pocket on the London Underground (I never keep my wallet in a silly place ), so Italy really isn’t out of the ordinary.
All the museums and many of the churches will have postcards and books for sale. Buy them. You may take so many photos you forget what and where they are from. Flash is not allowed at many places you can take photographs, so the photos you do take may come out dark or grainy. Books are also duty free.
peri, who came home from Florence with 75 lbs. of books
LOL. I understand your consternation. One flash damaging the statue? No, but add up all the people who look at the statue every minute of every day of every week of every year, taking multiple photos each, the light from the thousand burning flashbulbs leaking into nearby galleries where paintings live ( I know it doesn’t seem like this would happen, but it does ) and all the time & money they spent cleaning the thing recently and you start to understand their concern.
If people weren’t so (seemingly) constitutionally incapable of turning their flash off, it might not be such a big deal, but it’s a chance for them to get you to put it away, and they’ll take the opportunities they can get. At least that way they’ll get some people not to wander away & point their flash at paintings.
(I think while the concerns of museums with flash photos on paintings do have a conservation element to them, mostly it’s just a concern for copy rights. People who do not use flashbulbs will never get a market-quality reproduction; those who do might. So they protect their art and their reproduction rights at once)
Thanks again everyone for all your advice and information. I really appreciate it. I leave in just about 8 hours and I’m going to try to get a bit of sleep before I go. My flight leaves at 6:30 in the morning, it’s nearly 11 now.
) and all the time & money they spent cleaning the thing recently and you start to understand their concern.