Why Won't the Waiter Bring the Check? and other Rome, Italy Local Custom Tips

Because they think it's rude to ask you to leave. To them, it would be the equivalent of inviting guests to dinner, and after an hour, looking at their watches and asking them to leave.

In our American culture, we often look at dining as the equivalent of filling up at a gas station. Italians think of it as more of an art to take pleasure in. Two-three hours for dinner is considered normal. While there are a few restaurants which try to turn tables twice in an evening, most don't expect to, unless they cater to tourists.

Waiters also wait for someone to ask for the check so they know who to give the bill to. Often, the host at an Italian restaurant excuses himself from the table and handles the bill quietly outside the view of the other guests.

I have an Italian friend who felt insulted at a very high end restaurant in New York (Le Cirque) when the waiter brought the check without either of us having asked for it.

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In Italy, a phone number can be any number of digits!

This can be confusing to those of us who expect an area code of exactly three digits, and a telephone number of exactly seven.

When in Italy, you must always dial the area code first, even if you're in the same city. So for example, for any Rome phone number, you must dial 06 first. For any Florence number, you must dial 055 first. (Italian cell phones have their own 3-digit "area codes.")

If you're calling from the US to Italy, remember to dial 011 (for international calls) then 39 for the Italy country code.

If you are in Italy and want to make a call back to the US, you need to dial 00 for an international call, then 1 for the US country code. Then simply dial the area code and number.

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When you check in, the hotel will ask for and take your passport or identity card. They may keep it for a while, but they will return it.

Some front desk employees will just take your passport and write down your name and number on a separate piece of paper and give it back to you immediately. Sometimes, if they are busy and espcially if there is a line checking in or out, they will ask to keep it so they can collect the information later. I have never heard of anyone losing a passport by leaving it with the hotel. They usually will ask you to pick it up after you've unpacked and settled in your room.

The hotel is required to report the identity of anyone staying in their establishment to the local police. In fact, the law states that if you're not staying in a hotel or other commercial establishment where they report your whereabouts to the police, you're supposed to do it yourself at the local questura within eight days of your arrival in Italy.

It's actually illegal for anyone to be in a hotel room who isn't registered in it.....not that this rule hasn't been broken! ;-) An Italian friend told me the regulation is related to anti-terrorist legislation passed during the 1970s.

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I often tell people about the beautiful woman, with coifed hair and manicure, wearing jewelry, heels and a long elegant coat, who swept into the hotel in which I was staying. Ten minutes later I saw her in slippers and a pink maid's uniform!

While styles have definitely become more casual over the past five years, Rome still dresses up more than American cities. I'm not the clothes police, but if you're over 30, your jeans should probably be designer jeans and you should be wearing them with $300 stiletto heel leather boots. You never used to see Italians wearing shorts, but lately......

Big, bulky white running/walking shoes aren't seen much (though leather "bowling" shoes are popular). Ditch the fanny pack and I've never seen an Italian wearing sweats. Other than that, your feet need to be comfortable, cause you're going to be doing a lot more walking than the gorgeous Italian woman with the fabulous 300 Euro shoes.

To look more Italian, just carry a cell phone next to your ear and say loudly into it "COH-may?"

Of course, teenagers and 20-somethings dress more casually. You'll find them in torn jeans, backpacks and running shoes, just like everywhere. But you'll also find some young fashion victims wearing the newest (and sometimes bizarre) styles.

UPDATE, Oct 2005: The times they are a changing. If you can believe it - I actually saw three ITALIANS in sweat pants! To be sure, it was in Naples, but sweat pants? On an Italian? Good lord.

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Italians love to talk politics and they love to demonstrate in support of their beliefs. Thousands, hundreds of thousands, even a million people show up almost weekly for these demonstrations in Rome. It really was quite thrilling to be in the middle of a million people parading for peace in the middle of ancient Rome, next to the Forum and Colliseum!

Demonstrations usually take place on Saturday. Certain streets and even churches or other buildings might be closed, if they are near the gathering points. For example, the field in front of San Giovanni in Laterano is often used, and when it is, the Church is usually closed.

The demonstrations are usually colorful, music filled, and completely peaceful. This photo is of the communists and pensioners who were demonstrating against changes in government pensions in December 2003.

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Partly it is just local custom and culture, but many Italians also believe it is unhealthy to drink things that are too cold. They don't think it's good for you!

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This photo shows one of many reasons I love Rome - something wonderful, delightful and unexpected happens every time I visit. This gentleman got out of the car, held his arm out and the bird hopped on board. They began a purposeful, but slow, stately stroll through the streets near Campo dei Fiori.

I'm telling you, you just don't see this kind of thing in Pittsburgh!

Photo taken in January 2005.

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Ah, the most important question for every traveler!

Things are so much easier in Amsterdam (for men, anyway) where there are public outdoor urinals everywhere.

But in Rome, the first rule of touring is: never leave a museum without using the bathrooms just before you leave!

Some solutions:

1. Just like the US, you can always use the bathroom at any of the McDonalds. There are a couple dozen spread around the city...train station Spanish Steps, Pantheon, etc.

2. There are public bathrooms at the department store La Rinascente (the floor with women's clothing), on the Via del Corso (not far from the Trevi. I have a tip about it on my Rome page under shopping) and also across the street in the Galleria Alberto Sordi (used to be the Galleria Colonna) an indoor shopping mall.

3. Every bar and restaurant is required to allow anyone to use their bathroom, not just patrons. Still, if I use their facilities, I almost always get an espresso or something. That said, I have seen some restrooms that I would rather not have seen! A few nearly required gymnastics to enter (because the buildings are so old, and toilets came only in the last century, they were often put in small, cramped spots.)

4. Most of the 4 star or 5 star hotels will have a lobby bathroom that they will let you use (most of the three stars I know, don't have a lobby bathroom.)

Most of these bathrooms don't have hot water and many won't have soap. TP might not always be available either, so it wouldn’t hurt to bring along some tissues and hand sanitizer.

Feel better now?

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