Travel Tips that Will Be Useful in Italy

Italians have a rather beautiful term for “a simple idea, which is really obvious, but it doesn’t quite come across the person who could use it the most.”Such a person is referred to as vovo di Colombo. Sometimes the simplest of tips that would be useful to us whizzes past us. Especially when we are heading out to travel. And when we’re going on a trip to a country as exotic and as historical as Italy, you might as well be a uovo di colombo who doesn’t quite know what to do or not. So stick around and see what excellent travel tips we have that you can make use of in Italy.

Interesting facts about Italy that might be useful while traveling

• Italians have an incredible vocabulary for the way they enjoy and sometimes indulge in the simple pleasures of life such as drinking wine, eating good food, and having a good time: “la dolce vita.” 
• Since the end of the Word War, Italy has seen more than 60 governments, i.e., each government lasts for around 1.1 years. 
• One of the masterpieces of Italian Literature, “Divine Comedy,” was banned by the Catholic Church and kept in “Index Librorum Prohibitorum,” i.e., the index of prohibited books. Even recently, the book faced accusations of anti-semitism. 
• Italy is home to some of the most iconic fashion brands, such as Gucci, Versace, and Prada. Is it any wonder that Milan, one of the great Italian cities, is considered the fashion capital?
• Italy was a fragmented congregation of states until the nineteenth century, when a nationalist sentiment swept through this historical nation, and unification began to take shape. 

Italy is a beautiful country that is often known as the least of the great powers. In recent times, its economy has been said to be crumbling, but that doesn’t deter tourists coming in thousands to this delightful place that is the home of Pizza, some of the most aromatic coffee, the heart of the footballing culture of Serie A and beyond, and the greatest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the world. 

Make Sure that you travel to two countries within Italy.

If you plan your trip to Italy right, you can get a chance to visit two countries that are gently tucked within the boundaries of Italy itself. The first of these is San Marino- the fifth smallest country in the world and the smallest country in the world: Vatican City.

San Marino

San Marino, in addition to being the world’s oldest constitutional republic, is also the smallest. The name of this country comes out of Saint Marino, who had to flee the then-Roman empire because of his Christian beliefs. 

On the three peaks of Monte Titano lie three incredible towers- which form a significant part of the culture. These were collectively added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2008. This makes San Marino, in some ways, a delectable place to go to in Italy. 

Vatican City

Vatican City is where the “Vicar of Christ on Earth” formally resides. Although Italy-especially its youth- doesn’t entirely ascribe to religious tenets, it would be wonderful to see the great cathedrals like the Sistine Chapel, which houses some of the most iconic artwork there is. 

Vatican City- in its entirety- is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site: the only country to have been deemed so. The small area and a relatively smallish population bring about some statistical oddities, such as Vatican City having one of the highest crime rates in the world. But if you read “through” the statistics, you’d get an idea that it isn’t as dangerous as it looks at the outset. 

With so many great things about Italy to savor, you might become what the Italians would call a “biodegradabile”: someone who falls in love quickly, falls out of it fast, and gets back into the business even swiftly. Although this word describes falling in love with a “person,” the valuable tips we provide here to travel to Italy might make you a “biodegradabile” whose object of love is not a “person” but the “places in Italy.” 

Some Interesting Myths that might come in handy while talking to Italians

Talking to locals is one way of knowing and immersing yourself in the Italian way of life. And what better way to break the ice than discussing the mythology that has shaped Italy? Here are a few of them!

• Roman mythology has it that the founder of Rome- Romulus- had a twin brother Romeus. Both of them were raised by a she-wolf.
• Amphisbaena is a mythological snake that has heads at either end of its body. Pregnant women who wore Amphisbaena were believed to not have any complications during childbirth.
• Italians mythologize a book titled “Libro del Cinquecento” or “Libru does cincucentu,” which has formulae to solve all human problems.

Travel Tips that will be useful in Italy- that too in Italian Words

Various writers have attempted to translate seemingly untranslatable Italian words into the English language. As a result, we have a rich compendium of words from other languages that can sometimes be amusing at times, delightful during others, and beautiful too. 

But these words can have meanings not captured in translations we’ve read. This is because of the sheer impossibility of rendering the full meaning a word can have- according to its cultural context and other local connotations. So try using these with people you meet along and see how Italians and their culture reciprocate: 

Saper vivere

You are likely to meet people in all sorts of strife on your trip to Italy. So you would need to be equipped with the skill of a “saper vivere,” i.e., to know how to handle people diplomatically.

Attaccabottoni

Italians have an outstanding term for a bore that tells doleful pointless tales only to set the tone for the mood quite not what you’d expect on a trip to Italy. Maybe avoiding these would be one way of traveling in Italy.

Sbottonarsi 

The universe opens its colors up to you as much as you’d be willing to do the same. So perhaps you’d need to “sbottonarsi,” which means “To open up, reveal one’s opinion or feelings.” 

Justo 

If you become a Justo, i.e., A man who likes to flex his muscles and dress provocatively, perhaps Italy won’t be judgemental but daub itself in your colors. After all, it is one of the places for fashion. No, no! It is one of the great places for style. And being a Justo would be pretty befitting!!

l’abito non fa il monaco

If you’re someone at the opposite end of the spectrum, there is an age-old Italian expression, “l’abito non fa il monaco,” which means “clothes do not make the monk .”If you’re not a justo by any stretch of the imagination, you still can enjoy the fashion scene here with delightful shopping (for souvenirs you’d like to take). 

Ponte 

Italians tend to take an extra day off, taken to add a weekend to a national holiday. They call this “Ponete” This extends your travel holiday. Maybe you should plan your trip to the beat of this “Ponte”- this glaringly Italian word. 

tirare la carretta

Not everyone is blessed enough to have a job they enjoy. One could argue that every job tends to have its bouts of dirtiness. But you have “To drag yourself through the everyday work that borders at the edge of mundane and dirty .”Maybe you should give your best shot at “tirare la carreta”: to save that extra bit from earning and saving the penny you’d like to spend in this glorious nation. 

qualunquismo 

While you’re spending your time in Italy, you might as well develop qualunquismo: an attitude of indifference to political and social issues. But that’s really not the case. After all, with so many problems that Europe and Italy, in particular, are facing, you might as well learn how the political and social issues have shaped Italy. 

cuor contento 

If you’re taking in all the advice we’re giving you, we are hoping you move into a space where you experience the sensation of “The way a happy, even-tempered person feels,” i.e., cuor contento. Sure, as Italy will always have more to offer on your trips in the future as well, you should learn to bask in whatever shards of “cuor contento” you feel. 

abbozzare

And if things don’t go as you might have hoped for ( after all, not every trave has the best of things to say about their travels), you have to “abbozzare” I.e.to accept meekly a far from satisfactory situation. As it is said, contentment is the key to happiness!! 

Everybody goes to Milan and Venice and Co! But Here are some off-beat locations 

Lampedusa: The town that has become the symbol of the refugee crisis

Sometimes travel is just about indulgence. But indulgence on its own can create its own monsters. So a responsible way to travel to Italy would be to take a look at the migrant crisis that is sweeping Europe and in particular, the place that is known as Lampedusa. It is said that when the migrant crisis was at its highest during the migrant crisis of 2015, Lampedusa saw around 20,000 migrants when the population of this place was a meager 6,000. 

Roccamonfina volcano: where the oldest human footprints were discovered 

Italy houses an extinct volcano named “Roccamonfina,” which has been dead for some 50,000 years. But it harbors what the Italians call “Ciampate del Diavolo” or Devil’s Footprints or Devil’s Trails. This refers to the fossilized footprints of hominids that have been dated to more than 340,000 years. Some even questioned whether these were the oldest human footprints. 

Sardinia: The place with the highest number of centenarians 

“Mediterranean Diet” is often referred to as the best meal on the planet. Part of this is because the largest congregation of centenarians live in a paradisiacal place called Sardinia. Sardinia- the second largest island in the Mediterranean Sea- is tantalizingly close to a great travel destination in France, i.e., Corsica. Instead of binge-watching Italian pizza, you will learn about the agrarian dietary habits in Sardinia so that you can unlock your inner potential to become a centenarian, too!!  

The church where Cappuccino’s name-coiner was buried

Italy is famous for coffee: most of the names of Coffee drinks that we know, from Americano to Cappuccino, have an Italian ring to them. A story goes around that an Italian monk by the name of Matteo De Bascio started the “Order of the Friars .”These friars led quite an austere life- giving up the practices of extravagant lifestyle- that priests and other men of holy robes practiced around that time. 

These monks wore a robe of a color that matched the shade of coffee that was served in the way “Cappuccino” is. Others say that the hood of the friars matched the froth in coffee offered a la “Cappuccino .” The Order of the Friars” were also called “Capuchin” monks- hence the word “Cappuccino” came about. Wouldn’t it be interesting to visit San Francesco della Vigna- the church where the founder of the Capuchin monks is buried? 

A Word of Caution to Prevent Over Tourism in Italy

Yes, there will be, and there are blogs that will ask you to go to the same old places such as Venice and Milan and Co. in Italy, but over-tourism has caused a lot of problems in these areas. The World Tourism Organization defines over-tourism as “the impact of tourism on a destination, or parts thereof, that excessively influences the perceived quality of life of citizens and/or quality of visitor experiences in a negative way .”And figures have it that 370 tourists per resident per year might be unsustainable in Venice.

Some Interesting Facts about Over-Tourism in Venice

• There’s an aging population of 53,000 people in Venice who are involved in the travel business, but the younger generations are leaving the city for better prospects. So the question of whether this population can cope with over-tourism in the long term is not guaranteed.
• The government put a ban on cruise ships as they might have been too heavy to bear for the older, classic reconnaissance buildings. 
• The number of beds available for tourists was once bafflingly close to the number of residents in the city- both of these were more or less close to 48.000. 

A final say

Without tourism, Italy’s economy faces some crises as well. So the onus is on us, travelers, to remove the environmental footprints of traveling in Italy whilst balancing the need to be international- to taste the magical flavors of Italy and to give this country’s economy the boost it needs. So travel well, travel deep into the hitherto unexplored regions of Italy. Dare to be bold and venture into uncharted territory. And if it is unscheduled and unplanned, the better. As Alan Watts says about discovering yourself through travel,

“Real travel requires a maximum of unscheduled wandering, for there is no other way of discovering surprises and marvels, which, as I see it, is the only good reason for not staying at home.”