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1. Food
In many restaurants around the world, tourists can easily order beef noodle soup. However, this dish is not available in Italy. Similarly, chicken parmesan with Alfredo sauce, a familiar Italian dish in many countries, is something even Italians themselves don't know what it is.
2. Dinner is a marathon.
Italians have very elaborate dinners. Dinner is typically divided into three parts: an appetizer (primo), usually starting with pasta; a main course (secondo) consisting of meat or fish; and a dessert (dolce) of fruit or ice cream. Dinner is a time for family togetherness, so everyone eats slowly to allow ample time for conversation. Unlike the hurried eating habits of many Western countries, even after finishing their meal, Italians often linger together, savoring leftovers and continuing their conversations.
3. Italians are very afraid of the cold.
Italians don't like winter at all. As soon as there's the first sign of winter, they'll equip themselves with hats, coats, gloves, sweaters, and jackets... as if they came from an Asian country.
4. Papa with Papa
In Italian, "Papa" means "father," while "Papa" means Pope. Clearly, with this pronunciation, many tourists will confuse the Italians' way of addressing one's father and the Pope.
5. Motorcycles have "rights"
Once they hop on their scooters, they'll speed off, sometimes bumping into other people, but they don't seem to mind. Most Italians drive quite "crazy," so tourists should be mindful to avoid them from a distance.
6. The center of carbs, but everyone gets thin.
Italians clearly eat a lot of high-calorie foods like pizza, pasta, biscotti, and countless other tempting breads and pastries. Yet, very few people are obese. Is this a miracle, or is it because Italian genes are different from those of other countries? Many tourists wonder about this when they visit.
7. Alcohol is everywhere.
Wine is readily available everywhere, always accompanied by enticing offers. Guests can treat themselves to a glass after breakfast and take another to save for lunch. That portion of wine will be placed in a small decanter specifically for one meal.
8. Chestnuts reign supreme.
Sometimes you have to search through the countless varieties of nuts and butter on supermarket shelves to find something that suits you. However, in Italy, everything is made from chestnuts. The image shows some of the products that are most popular with the locals.
9. Aperviti
This is a rather unusual type of restaurant. You pay for both food and drinks. However, sometimes the food portion is just a small appetizer, and other times it's a whole tempting buffet.
10. There is no such thing as coffee here.
Instead of a medium or large cup of coffee, in Italy you can only enjoy cappuccinos for breakfast or espressos throughout the day, served in small cups. However, the taste is still perfectly delicious and irresistible.
