Pre-paid parking permits

In my recent trip to Italy, I've noticed that municipalities of small towns have been adopting a new way to collect parking fees. Instead of using traditional parking meters, drivers can purchase pre-paid parking permits sold in coffee shops and newsstands. How does it work? Just scratch the date and time of arrival, put the permit on your dashboard and come back in time before the Vigili Urbani give you a ticket. The average parking fee is around $0.60 per hour.

The Chinotto soft drink

Next time you are visiting Italy and are ready to order your favorite pizza, ask for a Chinotto instead of the usual Coke. Chinotto is a natural citrus and herbal beverage with a unique taste. It is one of Italy's traditional soft drinks. Thanks to a collaboration with Nestle', you may be able to find the Chinotto San Pellegrino brand in your local Italian food store too. My impression is that this is a beverage that you either love at first taste, or hate it. What do you think of Chinotto?

A memorable Venetian coffee

Napoleon called the Piazza San Marco "the finest drawing room in Europe." Imagine to be part of this enchanted picture, sitting right in front of the cathedral, ordering a coffee while listening to a live orchestra. The Caffe' Florian is all that. Opened in 1720, this is Italy's oldest Cafe'. If you are traveling on a budget, you may wish to hold off on this unique experience. A simple coffee with whipped cream is $12, and the 'music supplement' is $6 more. That's what I call a memorable Venetian coffee...

How much does gas cost in Italy?

If you are planning to rent a car in Italy, you may wish to know how much gas costs these days. One gallon of normal gas (not premium) costs around $6.70. In our recent trip, we opted for a diesel rental car, which got quite a good mileage and for the same gallon of fuel we paid 'just' $5.78 ... sigh...

Back from summer vacation in Italy

Some of you may have wondered why we haven't updated our blog recently. Well... we were in Italy for almost a month, visiting relatives and exploring new areas, in particular the Apulia (Puglia in Italian) region in Southern Italy. We've come back with lots of new ideas for upcoming postings, photo-albums, screen-savers and more. By the way, anybody guessing where this picture has been taken?