Italy from the Inside

Something to remember when you go to an Italian bar

Pay first Italian bar- Italy from the Inside

A “pay first ” sign in a bar in Rome

In many Italian bars, you need to pay before consuming your coffee, drink, or whatever you order. This is to avoid people leaving the bar without paying. What you need to do is to pay at the cash register, take the receipt and give it to the bartender. The bartender will tear or stamp the receipt and then he/she will give you what you ordered. Before leaving, remember to take the receipt with you. You must do it by law. This law has the goal to protect the State from being cheating out of the tax.

Same message, but in Italian:

At an Italian bar- Italy from the Inside

“Please, get the receipt at the cash register first. Thank you”

{This is an excerpt from chapter 4 “Gelaterie and Coffee Houses” of the eBook “Italy from the Inside. A native Italian reveals the secrets of traveling in Italy”. Buy our eBook on Amazon and leave us a review! If it’s good, you’ll make us happy, if it’s bad, you’ll make us improve. Thank you either way!}

Why I hate the takeaway coffee cup

A few days ago BBC published a video that explains why Italians refuse to drink takeaway coffee. The reasons why they prefer an espresso at the bar instead of drinking coffee from a takeaway cup are:

  1. It is fast. In literally 40 seconds your can order an espresso, drink it and be on your way
  2. It’s a work break and a social ritual
  3. It’s not too hot and you can drink it immediately

Personally, I agree with all of the statements above, however, there is another reason why Italians, or mainly me, hate the takeaway coffee cup and it can be explained with this photo collage:

The takeaway coffee cup disaster

Photos by Francesca Tosolini

This shows you how many times I’ve found coffee cups, or generally speaking just takeaway cups, on the stores’ shelves in the States.  And I’ve got so tired of this that I’ve started photographing them with the intention of writing a blog post about them one day. And today is the day. So here it is in all its simplicity: I hate the takeaway cup. It litters our planet, it wets/burns your hand and it makes you one-handed (“look at this nice dress, oh wait, I can’t see the size label, you know, I’m holding my coffee cup…”). Italy is still resisting this habit, but I know it won’t last long because you can already start seeing some signs of conversion:

Caffe' americano

Photo by Francesca Tosolini

“The American coffee has arrived. To take away”. And then it will be over…

 

 

 

Coffee to go in Italy

Coffee to go in Italy- Italy from the Inside

Photo by Francesca Tosolini

Italians don’t bring their coffee wherever they go and the big insulated travel mugs, that are so popular in the States, are definitely not a part of the Italian culture. However, sometimes you may see some people ordering their coffee at the bar and then taking it away. When that happens, it comes in this size.

{This is an excerpt from chapter 4 “Gelaterie and coffee houses” of the eBook “Italy from the Inside. A native Italian reveals the secrets of traveling in Italy”}