Hi there! Normally we write about press brake tools and bending technology but sometimes we would like to make articles about other things. And what is the best subject we can write about? For sure Italy as the country of residence and the country we live in. Well, here are some general or not very common facts about Italy. Probably they could be useful if you are planning to visit Italy as tourist and like the country and want to know more about it. And what do you know about beautiful country of wine and sun?
1. Italy is the country with very different nature inside. You can travel to real mountains, seaside, hills, mountain lakes and everything you wish. For nature Italy is really brilliant part of Europe.
2. Italy has German-speaking part - South Tirol or Alto Adige.
3. Because Italy had in the past lot of independent states before still now territorial separation is very strong. Moreover sometimes there are real political talking about independence and official separation of states.
4. Italy has lot of dialects and sometimes north Italians can't understand the language of south Italians. Meanwhile the right Italian dialect is understood as Florentine after Dante publication of Divine Comedy (La Divina Commedia).
5. All main business is concentrated on the north side of Italy.
6. Ciao (used as English “hi” and “bye”) and pizza are the most popular words in Italy.
7. There is no rule of tip in Italian restaurants. All services are inside the bill (usually service and bread) and called “coperto” with fixed amount depends of the restaurant. You do not need to pay any more.
8. August is national holiday time. Everything is closed together with supermarkets or even limited time of state offices.
9. Bureaucracy is the main part of Italy. Keep very detailed with papers and paperwork.
10. South of Italy is the place where mafia still exists and get the protection money from the business (Italian word “pizzo”). By the way nobody knows what m.a.f.i.a word means))) Google it, this is also the story of history.
11. Italy is the country with the most famous design houses and factories for sport cars. It is hard to find person in world who doesn't know what is Ferrari.
12. There are a lot of soccer clubs in Italy but mainly the separation between fans is only one - or you are fan of Juventus soccer club from Torino or you are against it.
13. Italy has inside Vatican in Rome and San-Marino in Emiglia-Romagna region. These countries are separate officially. So Italy is unique country to have 2 separate countries inside it.
14. Italian drivers are not very polite.
15. Taxi in Italy is very expensive. If even you will try to run Uber you will find only luxory and more expensive than official taxi. The most expensive taxi is to go to and from airport so the best for the tourist is to use public transport.
16. Strikes (in Italian “scioperi”) are very common and can effect the public transportation to be completely disabled during the day.
17. Restaurants outside of touristic places closed during the day and open for the lunch time (usually 12-15.00) and for the evening (from 19.00). Lot of places including restaurants could be closed on Monday.
18. Forget about supermarkets or other shops 24/7. You can find it somewhere but they are very very rare.
19. The main plate for Italy - spaghetti or other pasta with tomatoes (pasta con pomodoro). If you do not know what to cook - make pasta. Tomato sauce is cheap and could be find in every supermarket. No ketchup it Italian kitchen, only to make hamburgers!
20. In Italy it is normal to stay inside the house or apartments with shoes. Nobody remove.
21. The meaning of Italian colors which is officially published: green as hope, white as faith, and red as charity. But we really know that it is tomato, mozzarella cheese and basil - the three colors and ingredients of famous and the most simple pizza recipe.
22. Coffee is very big part of culture. Usually Italian drink 3-4 coffee cups during the day. Tea is only for tourists. Cappuccino only for breakfast with croissant. Coffee “Americano” is historical name for coffee which was too strong for US army soldiers after World War 2 and they diluted it with the hot water. Nobody drinks Americano in Italy and lots of bars don’t know what it is. If standard espresso (caffè) is too strong, you can ask for “caffè lungo” or coffee with small part of milk (caffè macchiato). One more about coffee. There is no Starbucks in Italy.
23. Usually Italians don't travel too much and don't visit a lot of places even in Italy. Have met several people in north who had never been in Venice.
24. Italy for Italians is “è il paese più bello del Mondo” this means “Best country in the world”. Be quite careful with critic of Italy when you are speaking with Italian. He can say a lot of critics about his country but never permit to you to do the same.
25. Italians do not like to pay taxes which could be very big for rich people. To understand how it goes you can travel to the port where parks of big yachts like Liguria region are or Genova port and you will see that usually boats stay with offshore financial country flags. Same story in other Europe.
If you will like it we will continue! Believe us, Italy and Italian traditions probably can give much much more facts and details about this beautiful country! Stay with us.