If you order a soda or water don’t expect the drink to be served with ice. Although drinks are served cold, ice is not common at all: you’ll need to specify it at the time of the order. Italians think that ice corrupts the original taste of the drink.
Mangia che ti fa bene
I recall my mom used to cook pasta for breakfast when I was going to elementary and middle school. She said ‘Mangia che ti fa bene’ (Eat, eat, this is good for you). And she was right, as that gave me enough energy to go thru the whole morning. I can’t claim that’s the reason why I’m 6.4 feet (almost 2 meters tall), but I’m doing the same today to my kids and they love pasta with pure extravirgin olive oil and parmesan in the morning. AllRecipes.com has some 1150+ pasta recipes to please even the most demanding kid.
Un gelato, please…
Gelato is a must have Italian experience. Many ice-cream shops pride themselves in making their own gelato by displaying a sign Produzione Propria. There are two categories of flavors: creme (e.g. chocolate, vanilla, creme caramel, pistacchio, hazelnut, etc.) and frutta (e.g. just every fruit). My suggestion? Ask for Misto Creme or Misto Frutta, a choice that will get you as many different flavors as possible for your money.