Francesca Tosolini | Italy from the Inside

My Christmas tree from years ago…

December 11, 2018

“Christmas plant”

Years ago I spent one school year in Italy with the kids, because I wanted them to attend an Italian public school (yeah, they hated me in the beginning and obviously they didn’t want to leave in the end, same old story…). We stayed in a tiny apartment, where we shared one big bedroom and where we had just one puffy armchair because there wasn’t even enough room for a sofa. Let alone for a Christmas tree. But you don’t need a tree to create the Christmas atmosphere, you just need a plant, some tiny Nutella jars and the Ovetti Kinder (infamously illegal in the States). Oh, happy days!

They don’t sell pasta in the Italian pasticceria

December 4, 2018

Italian pastries

Pasticceria is a store specializing in sweets (dolci). It sells mainly pastry products, cookies, chocolate, and candies. Italian pastries aren’t usually as rich or big as the American ones; many of them can be eaten in one or two bites. Many pasticcerie have a coffee bar. So, what’s the name of the store that sells pasta? That’s the pastificio which is a fresh pasta shop and which sells many different kinds of pasta along with tortellini, ravioli, gnocchi, and other products to take away and cook (cucinare) at home.

Tortellini, ravioli and pasta sold in a pastificio

{This is an excerpt from chapter 5 “Stores” 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!}

The (confusing) hours of the Italian post office

November 27, 2018

Italian post office sign

Fortunately, times have changed and the Italian postal service has greatly improved. Many years ago my uncle sent a postcard to his sister during one of his trips abroad. When my aunt received it she was very pleased, but also very much surprised. Why? Well, it took almost 40 years for the postcard to arrive. This is no joke, it happened to my family. But fear no more. Today it is a more efficient system that provides refunds and allows you to track your mail online. They even have a website written in English.
Depending on the city, the post office is open Monday through Friday from around 8:00am to around 1:30pm. It closes at noon on Saturdays and on the last day of the month. It is always closed on Sunday. However, in every big city, there is a Main Post Office (Posta Centrale) which has extended hours and closes later, usually at 7pm as well as other smaller post offices which are usually centrally located. So, to summarize, some close at 1:30pm and some at 7pm (don’t ask me why because I honestly don’t know), but you can find out in advance the hours of a post office by searching its location on the official website.
And remember, post offices are easily recognizable by a yellow and blue sign that says Posteitaliane and it is displayed outside the office.

{This is an excerpt from chapter 9 “The Post Office” 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!}