General | Italy from the Inside

Italian local holidays

November 6, 2018

Sunrise in Rome

Every big Italian city has its own patron saint, which is viewed as a protector and is celebrated with local holidays. Knowing about these local holidays in advance can help you to avoid some of the disadvantages caused by the slowing down or closure of some services. The following is a list of the holidays celebrated in the most famous Italian cities:

Naples- San Gennaro: celebrated every year on September 19th.
Bologna- San Petronio: celebrated every year on October 4th.
Rome- Santi Pietro and Paolo: celebrated every year on June 29th.
Milan- Sant’Ambrogio: celebrated every year on December 7th.
Florence, Turin and Genoa- San Giovanni Battista: celebrated every year on June 24th.
Palermo- Santa Rosalia: celebrated every year on July 11th.
Venice- San Marco: celebrated every year on April 25th.
Trieste- San Giusto: celebrated every year on November 3rd

To this list I would also add the Palio di Siena (horse racing), which is not a celebration to honor a saint, but it still is a big event that takes place every year on July 2nd and August 16th.

{This is an excerpt from chapter 13 “Italian holidays” 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!}

Paper or plastic?

October 30, 2018

Supermarket plastic bags under the cash register counter

Once at the cash register (cassa), it is likely that nobody will ask you if you want paper or plastic bags, because plastic, more specifically biodegradable plastic, is usually the only option. The supermarket plastic bags are not free, they cost around €0.10 a piece. If you want to save some money (soldi) bring your own bags (borse), otherwise either the person at the cash register will ask if you need some (serve una borsa/busta?), or you will need to look for them under the cashier counter as shown above.

{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 colors of the Italian street signs

October 23, 2018

When you come to a crossroads in Italy you may become disoriented by the multitude of signs. It may be hard to see the sign you are looking for while you are driving, especially if you see ten or more other signs. Italians have tried to make it easier by using different colors for their signage system:

A blue background is used for city/town directions. The number next to the city name tells you the road number or how many kilometers you have to drive to get to the destination.

Sign to the City of Udine, 11 Kilometers

Strada Provinciale (SP) sign to the towns of Reana (road number 38) and Faedis (road number 15)

A green background is used for highway directions (tutte le direzioni means “all directions,” that is to say that you need to take that direction to reach the main towns and cities in the area).

All directions sign (tutte le direzioni)

White signs are for hotel directions but also for public service places (such as police, hospitals, train stations, etc.). In this case a little icon accompanies the words to make the meaning clearer.

White hotel signs

White signs to police station

Signs with a brown (or yellow) background point the way to areas of tourist interest. Also in this case an icon will help you understand whether the place in question is a church, a museum, a theater, etc.

Brown tourist signs

Detour signs have a yellow background and black writing.

Yellow detour sign

{This is an excerpt from chapter 2 “Driving in Italy” 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!}