When I told people I was going to Italy for my honeymoon,
all everyone had to say was, “You’ll love it! The food, the wine, you have to
see XYZ!” And I’m not saying I didn’t enjoy my trip: I obviously did! BUT there
were a few things that I thought were worth sharing if you are considering a
trip there; I tried to list them from minor to major. I hope this helps!
·
Paying for water and the use of public
bathrooms: This was probably the smallest inconvenience, mostly because
this one we actually were warned about ahead of time. But it’s still shocking
when this is not really an issue in the US (unless maybe you have to buy
something at a Starbucks to use their bathroom). We were lucky because we
pretty much always used the bathrooms in our hotels and restaurants where we
were already eating (and I did sneak through the gate at one restroom in a
park), so I think I only paid for a bathroom once or twice the whole time. We
did pay for bottled water more often than that, but usually for $3.50 you got a
liter of water, so we could easily split it between the two of us. It was very
cool to use the old fountains in the cities that are connected to the aqueduct
that was built SO long ago and still works! We found the most in Rome, one was
right across from our hotel in Florence (although we didn’t discover it until
the day before we left; you’d think the hotel staff would have mentioned
that!), and we found one in a pretty park in Sorrento (although on a walking
tour of the city, our guide claimed there were none. Hmpf.). It is a little
ironic that you have to pay for water in cities that have free water flowing
everywhere. So, this was not a huge deal, but you do need to plan accordingly. Bring your water bottle(s) with you!
·
To tip or not to tip: Everyone I talked
to said you don’t have to tip Italians because they are better paid than people
in similar roles in the US. And yet it was confusing to know if/when this was
true. We saw other people tip taxi drivers and tour guides; sometimes we did,
still not knowing whether that was protocol or not. And at many restaurants,
you have to pay between $2-$4/person to sit down (in some places it’s more
expensive if you’re inside rather than outside), so we kind of figured that
covered the tip. But at one restaurant I was given one of those little machines
that asks what kind of tip you would like to leave, and at another restaurant
the waiter demanded a 10% tip (smaller than the usual in the States, but when I
am under the impression I don’t have to tip, the request came as a surprise). And
even when we wanted to leave a tip, like for the cleaning people in the hotel, we
were only given large bills at the exchange or ATM; you don’t even have a few
Euros to leave, and believe me, NO ONE will make change for you (unless you
want to pay $3 for a pack of gum, of course).
·
Rip off prices for transportation:
Speaking of money, the amount we paid to get around Italy, particularly in cabs
and such, was outrageous. When we arrived in Sorrento, although our hotel was
not far from the train station, it was raining, and we were lugging ~50lb bags,
so we opted for a cab. There was a big van that picked up multiple parties at
once so he could just drop us off along the way. I kid you not: he took us
maybe two blocks and charged $25 just for me and Steve. RIDICULOUS! And for the
hotel shuttle on our last night (more on that later), while we didn’t pay
anything up front, we had to pay $32 the next day for the 10-minute drive to
the airport. They really stick it to you for sure!
·
Problems with accessibility: Luckily I am
an able-bodied person, because I FEEL for anyone who travels to Italy and uses
a cane, rides in a wheelchair, or otherwise is physically disabled. Of course
many of the roads are still made of the original stone, so the streets are
uneven and very slippery when wet (good luck if you try to wear heels!). The
sidewalks are not much better, and they are VERY narrow. Usually you could
barely walk two abreast, so you’re trying to walk single file, but so are the
people walking in the opposite direction, so someone ends up walking on the
road, and you’re just praying a motorbike doesn’t wiz past you at that very
moment (the same goes for when the sidewalk just disappeared and you had no
choice but to walk in the road). Elevators were hard to come by as well.
Steve and I usually don’t mind walking, but when you have to carry those heavy
suitcases up five flights in your hotel, it’s not great. And in Sorrento, we
walked down the back-and-forth path to the coast, and if you wanted to take the
elevator back up, you had to pay. You’re telling me a person in a
wheelchair has to PAY to use the lift?! The ADA laws in America would never
allow for this (granted, those laws were only passed in the 1990’s, which is
pretty sad on its own…).
·
Do NOT take the Campiani Express: This is
the train our travel agent suggested we use from Naples to Sorrento (we only
traveled through Naples from Rome). Up until this point, we had only taken
rather nice passenger trains: the kinds that have bathrooms and the staff give
you drinks and snacks, much like an airplane). This Express train is NOT that.
It is like riding the New York subway for 90 minutes, but everyone else on the
car is also carrying huge luggage with nowhere to put it. So the suitcases are
either blocking where your legs should be so you’re sitting sideways, or
they’re in the middle of the aisle while people are trying to walk through, or
they’re in the way of the doors (which in and of itself is not a big deal
because the staff only open ONE car door anyway, no matter how many people are
getting on the train) with no one to hold the bags, and the bags would shift and roll all
over the place. This was the most uncomfortable travel experience of the entire
trip, and I cannot recommend it whatsoever. If there is any other way to
get to Sorrento, please do so.
·
Lack of signage: This is by far my
biggest complaint, and it makes it obvious what poor communication skills the
Italians have. The maps we were given by the hotels at the start of each leg of
the trip were not great. For starters, these ancient city roads are not built
in grids, so you can’t count the streets or avenues like you can in New York or
D.C. (The Romans could build structures like the Pantheon that survived a
THOUSAND years but could not figure out how to make squares with their
streets?). Streets curve randomly, turn into new roads without announcement,
and criss-cross willy-nilly. The streets are sparsely labeled, and even if you
did know the name of the street you wanted to be on, chances of you finding a
street sign were zero to none. Instead of street signs, the buildings have
plaques with the names of the roads on them. But only some of the roads have
these, and only at certain corners. So while we never got truly lost (the
cities are only so big, and even if you end up walking in circles, you find
your way eventually), I did get turned around a lot, which was frustrating when
I usually take the lead. This came to its peak on our second-to-last day at the
Rome airport when we were trying to find the location of the hotel shuttle bus.
The airport has NO signs inside mentioning ground transportation or shuttles,
and when we asked multiple airport employees for help, we only received the
correct answer half the time. There is ONE small sign, in the middle of the
road, that shows a diagram (you cannot call it a map) with multiple hotel
logos and the number of the location where you were to find each one. But we
didn’t see those numbers anywhere! We saw big pillars starting with the number
5 for larger buses and that was it (we wanted number 2). At this point I am in
TEARS because we had been traveling all day from Sorrento to Rome, we had just
taken our THIRD train of the day, and I was physically and mentally exhausted.
Finally we saw that there are parking spots with tiny numbers on the asphalt. That’s how you find the
shuttle. That’s it. In the States those hotel logos would have been
posted everywhere, and there would be no confusion on specifically where the
hotel shuttle pick-up location is. I feel like, even as big as the US is, you
can figure out where you’re going much more easily. All you need it to LABEL
things! Is that too much to ask?
I am in NO way telling you not to go to Italy. There is so
much to do and see in these old cities, and the history is amazing. So if you
are privileged enough to take a trip there, do it! But just be warned about
some of these differences compared to the US. And when people tell you how
great Italy is, just remember it’s not always rainbows and butterflies.
