Rome Local Custom Tips by fairy_dust

Drinking Fountains Do As Romans Do Review

Some of the fountains are there for people to drink from (you'll either see a sign telling you the water is drinkable and/or people refilling their water bottles). No need to buy a new water bottle every few hours, just re-fill it at one of the fountains. Most of them are a spout coming out of a wall. You can also use these to wash your hands or splash your face with water if the weather is extremely hot.

The locals

The local Italians are usually very friendly. I noticed that whenever I carried my Canada flag, they were even nicer to me because they love Canadians! My group stayed at a tourist village outside of Rome, and since the locals who stayed there too knew that we were groups of World Youth Day pilgrims, they were very friendly to us. The culture is very warm, and they're very affectionate towards family and friends, and even people they've just met.

How to buy from a street vendor

If you want to buy something from a street vendor, it's very easy to haggle the price. If you see something you like, ask the price, and then offer to pay something even lower (like half the original price or even lower than that). Then the vendor will try to offer another price, and you just keep haggling until you come to a price that you both agree on.

Vendors expect you to haggle the price. And when you do haggle, you'll end up with great deals!