Both my wife and I grew up in Italy and moved to US in 1996. I recall myself during the first 2-3 years of living abroad to continously making comparisons between my new and old lifestyles. I missed the good food, friends and walking to some places without the need of driving.

Then I started to get used to the comfortable living in the States, the large roads, the grocery shops always open and the efficiency of the public services. During my trips back to Italy I became more and more aware of differences that I didn’t notice when I was living there, because they were part of my everyday life, if I liked them or not.

Part of the fun of travel is discovering new cultures on your own. But knowing ahead of time some of those cultural differences may save you some time, possibly money and disappointments.

We expect to cover key topics such as driving, transportations, calling home, food, accommodation, but feel free to let us know if you’d like us to blog on something specific.

Welcome to our blog Italy From The Inside. My name is Paolo Tosolini and with my wife Francesca have decided to start publishing a series of useful tips for travelers planning to visit Italy for the first time.
Bookstores already offer a variety of travel guides about Italy, but they mostly focus on places to see and things to do. There is very little about introducing you to the real Italian culture, the way people do things in Italy, from driving to shopping to eating. And the more you’ll learn about it before your trip, the better prepared you’ll be to appreciate your sojourn.
Please enjoy the reading and please send us your comments on specific topics you’d like us to cover.