This is a summary article about the rules and tradition that we discovered are very convenient and important to follow.

 Italian – Learn and use basic Italian words.  Do not be a mute foreigner.  At least spice up your inability to speak with a bright smile and Buon Giorno [bon gorno] and Ciao [chao].

Mineral Water – Do order a large bottle of mineral water in restaurants.  It is an easy and customary way to replenish your fluids, and it is great.

Restrooms – You can ask politely to use a restroom (bagno [ban’o]) in any restaurant.  We never received a refusal.

Refreshments – buy a watermelon instead of ice cream (gelato).

Ice – Forget about ice.  It is a rare and exotic commodity in Italy.  We only saw one or two small droplets of ice in a fresh squeezed juice.

Supermarkets – Use supermarkets to your advantage.  Even if you do not rent a car, buy fruits and water, and yogurt (even soy yogurt) in a convenient stores that are frequent and have surprisingly wide range of goods.  If you do have a car – buy cases of water, buy and wash fresh fruits and store them in special bags in the trunk for a day of two.

D O M – What is DOM on top of all Latin inscriptions means? It stands for “Deo optimo maximo” (God, the Best, the Greatest).

Puzzling Announcements in Public Places

Vietato grattare i gratta & vinci sul congelatore dei gelati  –
It is forbidden to scratch the “Scratch & Win” cards on top of the ice cream freezer.

accetto atac –
Except public transportation vehicles

As the rule most interesting access points are hidden behind signs like this.	Good bye in all languages sounds a bit sad. Pay less – Explore more.

Vacation Total

On WED, September 12 all credit cards reported their statements, and I was able to calculate the coveted “Vacation Total”. It comes from 4 sources: ATM withdrawals, American Express, MasterCard and air fare.

Here are the results:

Here is a fairly obvious formula for rough estimate of travel expenses for the future: for a very modest European travel one needs one thousand dollars per-person per-week plus air fare.

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1. Italy 2012 August - Roma, Firenze, Napoli and between (2017/09/19)
2. Aug 10-11 FRI-SAT - A two-day flight to Rome (2017/09/23)
3. Aug 12 SUN - First steps in Rome - Pantheon (2017/09/27)
4. Aug 13 MON - Vatican (2017/10/01)
5. Aug 14 TUE - Colosseum (2017/10/05)
6. Aug 15 WED - Getting the car - Starting North - Viterbo (2017/10/09)
7. Aug 16 THU - Bagnoregio in Lazio, Orvieto in Umbria (2017/10/13)
8. Aug 17 FRI - Orvieto - Montepulciano - Siena (2017/10/17)
9. Aug 18 SAT - Siena - Villa Galileo - Firenze - Day 1 (2017/10/21)
10. Aug 19 SUN - Firenze - Day 2 - Uffizi Gallery (2017/10/25)
11. Aug 20 MON - Firenze (Day 3) - Collodi (2017/10/29)
12. Aug 21 TUE - From Pescia to Lucca (2017/11/02)
13. Aug 22 WED - Lucca (Toscana) - La Spezia (Liguria) (2017/11/06)
14. Aug 23 THU - Cinque Terra [... in progress ...] (2017/11/10)
15. Aug 24 FRI - Torre del Lago Puccini - Pisa and Agriturismo (2017/11/14)
16. Aug 25 SAT - Agriturismo in Pitigliano [... in progress ...] (2017/11/18)
17. Aug 26 SUN - Road to Napoli [... in progress ...] (2017/11/22)
18. Aug 27 MON - Napoli - Day 2 [... in progress ...] (2017/11/26)
19. Aug 28 TUE - From focused Napoli to havenly Sorrento (2017/11/30)
20. Aug 29 WED - Capri - Day 1 [... in progress ...] (2017/12/04)
21. Aug 30 THU - Capri - Day 2 [... in progress ...] (2017/12/08)
22. Aug 31 FRI - La Dolce Far Niente [... in progress ...] (2017/12/12)
23. Sep 1 SAT - Mount Vesuvius [... in progress ...] (2017/12/16)
24. Sep 2 SUN - Last day in Rome [... in progress ...] (2017/12/20)
25. Sep 3 MON - From Rome back to Boston (2017/12/24)
26. Italy 2012 - Final Summary - Rules to Adopt and Follow <br> (2017/12/28)