There is one thing tourists should avoid doing when travelling to Italy, a travel expert has claimed.
Gregor Brown, an American ex-pat living in Italy has revealed all the things that holiday-makers should and shouldn’t do whilst visiting the countries idyllic tourist hotspots.
Revealing the unusual rule around drinking cappuccino, Gregor said: “I do it sometimes, but the Italian’s frown if you order a cappuccino past the curfew of 11. Yeah, there’s the cappuccino curfew of 11 am.”
He added: “Sometimes you do it (order a cappuccino after 11 am), and if you must, at a restaurant after you order your food and had lunch don’t ask for a cappuccino following lunch or dinner. If you must, ask for a caffe macchiato or just a straight up caffe. Italians will look at you like you’re a mad man for having a cappuccino after dinner, and never, no matter what you do order a cappuccino with your food, it’s not done in Italy.”
Instead of getting on the wrong side of staff, he said that tourists could try another type of coffee, the cafe cornetto, reports the Express.
The expert continued: “If you really want to kick it up and have a caffe the proper Italian way, the way I see a lot of Italian guys do it at 9am in the morning, at the local corner bar you can have a caffe cornetto and that is caffe with a little bit of alcohol added into it. Have it after dinner, after lunch or heck even do like those locals do and have it at 9am in the morning.”
And, while he emphasises the importance of not ordering cappuccino past the 11am mark, he did tell tourists of one relatively unknown, but more positive aspect of staying in Italy, saying:”Never tip when you’re out and about for dinner or lunch. It’s all folded into the price and the waiters, they’re not working for the tip, they’re on a salaried job. It’s very different to what you’d find in the United States where the tipping culture is massive.”
While Italy is known for its good weather, tourists travelling to the European country have been warned of the current weather conditions.
With a huge amount of rain fall in recent weeks, large parts of central France and Italy have become flooded, with the Foreign Office telling the public that those looking to travel to the affected regions to “follow the instructions of local authorities” as red and orange weather warnings have been issued across the country, with them expected to remain in place until tomorrow (Tuesday, October 22).
The adverse weather conditions have even seen one person die in the small town of Pianora in the city of Bologna.