Whenever you travel, it's a good idea to:
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Pack light!
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Bring some euros with you - a few hundred or so.
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Carry any medicines on the plane with you.
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Make copies of your passport and keep it in your suitcase for reference, in case of loss or theft.
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Keep your money and passport in a safe at your hotel, or in a travel wallet under your clothes.
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Leave a copy of your itinerary at home with friends and family.
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Obtain an International Driver's License if you plan to drive - or risk being fined if you are stopped.
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Reconfirm your flight reservations 48-72 hours prior to all flights.
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Place luggage tags on all bags. Include your name, address, phone and the phone number of the first place you will be staying after your flight. It is also a good idea to place an additional set of luggage tags inside of your bags.
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Know a few words in Italian like hello "Buon Giorno" and good-bye "Arrivederci or Ciao"! Note: "Ciao" is hello and good-bye and is used with familiar friends and children.
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Bring a little laundry soap to hand wash a few items in your hotel sink along the way.
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Pack an additional small bag to put your newly found treasures in for the ride home - better yet, plan on buying yourself a new bag as a souvenir!
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Bring extra storage space for photos.
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Purchase travel insurance.
Recommended Reading
Non-Fiction:
That Fine Italian Hand - Paul Hofmann
Italian Days - Barbara Grizzuti Harrison
Under The Tuscan Sun - Frances Mayes
Bella Tuscany - Frances Mayes
Desiring Italy - Susan Cahill
The Italians - Luigi Barzini
The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire - Edward Gibbon
The House of Medici - Christopher Hibbert
Italian Neighbors - Tim Parks
Vanilla Beans and Brodo - Isabella Dusi
Eat Pray Love - Elizabeth Gilbert
1000 Days in Venice - Marlena De Blasi (also 1000 Days in Tuscany)
Fiction:
The Agony and the Ecstasy - Irving Stone
Room With a View - E. M. Forster
Angels and Demons - Dan Brown
The Light in the Piazza - Elizabeth Spencer
The Birth of Venus - Sarah Dunant
Pompeii: A Novel - Robert Harris
The Divine Comedy - Dante
Decameron - Giovanni Boccaccio
Romeo and Juliet - William Shakespeare
I, Claudius - Robert Graves
The Leopard - Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa
Roman Numerals:
It helps to know the Roman Numeral System to help decipher important dates in history for many of the structures and statues throughout Italy...
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M = 1000 |
C=100 |
X=10 |
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CM= 900 |
XC=90 |
IX-9 |
|
D=500 |
L=50 |
V=5 |
|
CD=400 |
XL=40 |
IV=4 |
MMVII = 2007 MCMXCVII - 1997
Try to write your birth year in Roman Numerals!
BUON VIAGGIO!
