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but you can also get a decent pizza for 5 to 7 euro anywhere in Italy, and a pasta rarily costs more than 6 euro, 9 if it includes seafood. Except, once again, in touristy areas and restaurants where the guide gets a commission (my father used to be a guide here in Bruges, so I know all about that...)
Yeah had a great pizza for only 6 euros at a local pizzeria, all locals, and as good as any of the expensive ones.
Dear god, eating out in Italy is not expensive. A salad and a pasta + dessert can usually be had for 20 euro or less, if you need more food than that, than that's your problem.
It really depends on where you end up going to.
Usually when I go to a pizzeria I spend up to 15 € for a pizza, a drink and the "coperto" which means the cost of service (never given any tips).
Quote:
Originally Posted by takeo3
the whole of southern Italy is underrated. Everyone always ends up in the same places: Rome, Toscany, Milan, Venice, etc. Of course all of these places are very beautiful, but there's more to see in Italy.
Actually South Italy is considered among the most beautiful place in the world (and one of the worst handled). I have never met an Englishman who hadn't visited at least once in his life Amalfi.
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Postman
Yeah had a great pizza for only 6 euros at a local pizzeria, all locals, and as good as any of the expensive ones.
Usually a Margherita costs between 4,5 € and 5 € on normal places (not really turistic) and it is the cheapest one.
Over all, Northern Italy IS expensive, sometimes more than most places of Northern Europe (and Italy has the highest taxes), obviously by going to turistic places you run the risk of seeing awfully expensive places.
Just think in Piazza Duomo in Milan one espresso costs 5 € when normally I'd pay it max 1,2 € (and it would be REALLY expensive).
As for food, in general internation cuisine is spread in this way:
1) International cuisine (French, High class Chinese and Japanese, American Steak-houses, etc) can be found in turistic places and centres.
2) Foreign cuisine (Kebab, normal Chinese,Thai,Japanese,Mexican and so on) can usually be found from medium size cities onwards.
Generally you'll find lots of kebab.
My city has 40,000 inhabitants and I could list 8 Kebab and 2 Indian restaurant, 4 "Trattorie" (which means home cooked food) and a dozen of pizzerie.
It's IMPOSSIBLE you didn't find these in Rome or Milan (just in Milan, where I lived one year, I could list 20-30 kebab in an area large 2 km).
I will be in Italy in late August for a week or so and will be on a tight budget. Will probably be skipping breakfast and lunch all together and just looking for good dinners. What should I look for and what should I stay away from?
I will be in Italy in late August for a week or so and will be on a tight budget. Will probably be skipping breakfast and lunch all together and just looking for good dinners. What should I look for and what should I stay away from?
Stay away from bar (also called "caffetterie") in turistic places because a coffee will cost a lot.
Then, I'd suggest you save money by having a lunch in "trattorie" where you can eat wonderful food for low prices.
Then, especially if you go to Rome or to the South, be careful with the ticket.
I mean, when you pay you'll be released a receipt (namely "scontrino", which by the way,be sure to have because it grants that the restaurant does pay taxes and it'll help you whether you may have problems) and be careful not to be trifled.
It happened, in Rome, that a couple of Japanese tourists saw a receipt of 700 € for a dinner which simply a shame.
Be careful of this, it'll be easy if you speak Italian but nonetheless keep eyes open.
Anyway, don't panick, you'll enjoy the vacation.
Italia ti lascia sempre a bocca aperta! Italy leaves you will your mouth wide open, first for it's stunning natural beauty, artistic heritage, and the slowest and one of the most corrupt bureaucratic systems in the world. Honestly, Italy like many places has a great divide from the Italy one vacations in to the Italy one lives in.
Not obsessed, just curious...I don't think any less of people for how they look, although I'm aware that some do. Overall it's not really that important, just something I thought I'd comment on.
I think people think that because trimac posted lots of race threads.. Hope im not offending you.
Italia ti lascia sempre a bocca aperta! Italy leaves you will your mouth wide open, first for it's stunning natural beauty, artistic heritage, and the slowest and one of the most corrupt bureaucratic systems in the world. Honestly, Italy like many places has a great divide from the Italy one vacations in to the Italy one lives in.
Actually, when the whole world is taken into account, what truly surprises is that by comparison the Italian government is among the most efficient and least corrupt.
Actually, when the whole world is taken into account, what truly surprises is that by comparison the Italian government is among the most efficient and least corrupt.
Not in relationship to the effective tax rate (now more than 50%) and in comparison to other countries of early industrialization (e.g. UK, France, Germany, US, Japan): the Italian government and bureaucracy are efficient enough to tangle you up and hurt you (a small/medium-sized business), and corrupt enough not to provide you with enough quality services to help you grow or, at the least, politely get the hell out of the way.
You cannot compare them to, for example, some Latin American or African countries where, yes, services are relatively poor, but the effective tax rate is also very low if anything at all.
Actually, when the whole world is taken into account, what truly surprises is that by comparison the Italian government is among the most efficient and least corrupt.
Your statement just proves you know NOTHING about Italy beyond the fact it is shaped like a boot. I live in Italy and there is rampant wide spread corruption in every facet of life here.....
Lets start with work, you think Italy isn't corrupt therefore it must be a "meritocracy" Why don't you say that to the hundreds of thousands of young people with degrees in economics and finance and ask them why they can't even get a job as even a supermarket cashier. Although if you know the owner of the supermarket or one of his children you just may be in luck....
TG5 Telegiornale Cinque, (Italy's number one watched NEWS SHOW) it started off with news caster Cristina Parodi, she moved up to producer and got her sister Benedetta a job as a caster on a sister network (who's career then took off as the Rachael Ray of Italy) now I turn on TG5 and there is a another news caster her last name is Parodi-Delfino. Can you imagine the number 1 watched news show in America had such a dynastic succession where jobs are able to pass from one family member to the next? Welcome to Italy....
Worst of all, do you know how many people (especially young) get up every day here in Italy to go to a job which pays them with hunger (the average Italian salary is between 1200-1300 euro a month) and from living here you need at least 2000 to get by. Worst of all, besides the fact you get paid once a month there are countless people I know that have gone months MONTHS on end (do you hear me??) without seeing their paycheck!!!!!
What do you think they are supposed to do denounce their boss to the police/carabinieri?? They do but guess what the ITALIAN GOVERNMENT (which according to you the most efficient and least corrupt) are the first people to not pay their private debts with contractors.
For instance lets say the Italian government needs to build a new highway and therefore finds an "imprenditore" or private business owner with the capacity to build the highway, the Italian government will give them a contract and obviously when the highway is complete payment SHOULD be remitted right? In Italy there are thousands of private companies that have been given state contracts to do work for the country and they are waiting months and even YEARS yes YEARS to get a check from the government. Oh and guess what.....
Lets say in 2013 you built a highway that the Italian government was supposed to pay you 1 million euros for, well it may be now 2014 and you need to declare and pay taxes on that 1 milion euros because that was your income....Oh wait the government hasn't even sent out the check for the 1 million euros they owe you but you better pay taxes as if you received it or you can be prosecuted for tax evasion...
SOUNDS UNBELIEVABLE TO YOU????..... THEN READ THIS... Storia di un imprenditore in attesa di credito - Panorama
You will have to translate it from Italian with google and it will explain to you the frustrating steps taken by an Italian entrepreneur who sold energy/electricity to the government and is waiting to be paid 15 million euros and has already gone through 36 bureaucratic procedures with no luck. Imagine how many employees this guy has that he cannot even pay!!!! This scenario has played out with thousands of private enterprises the Italian government owes money to. The Italian government (which according to the above comment is efficient and gets things done) owes more than 100 billion euros (and not public or sovereign debt) but private debt it owes to private contractors. Private contractors who cannot pay their employees or even get bank credit ( as most Italian banks have lost more than 65% of their market capitalization since the beginning of the financial crisis) they just don't lend. Meanwhile the EUROPEAN UNION has warned Italy that it has 90 days to pay it's debts to it's contractors or it will be sanctioned. I'm laughing cause obviously that just is not going to happen.
In Italy the government takes more than 6 months (on average) to remit payment to contractors in the North whereas the figure skyrockets as you go to the south with some regions like Calabria where it takes over 3 years (average!!! It could even be 6 years or more)
Meanwhile the Italian government has so many agencies like INPS, CAF, UFFICIO DELLE ENTRATE, REGIONI, ETC....The agencies are tremendous waste of tax payer money as they do overlapping and duplicative services that take a snails pace to accomplish!!!!
Need more on corruption? Try opening a business in Italy and see if the "assessori" or inspectors that come for your final inspection give you a certificate of occupancy if you don't give them an envelope full of money first "regalino" is is called in Italian. Also Italian tax code is such a tremendous mess that every business owner is required to have a "commercialista" or tax accountant just to figure it out"
Taxes, taxes, and more taxes Italy is the land of taxes. One of my friends (one of the only ones I know that has a job) gets paid 700 euro a month. His boss gives him 700 euros (each month) and has to forward an additional 750 euros to the Italian government in taxes and contributions. Whereas in the USA that same boss would give him the full 1450 euros and the employee (my friend) would then pay taxes (maximum 30% in the US) and certainly never more than 50% like in Italy.
Worst of all as many Italians have said "I basically cut my leg off and sent it in to pay my taxes in this country to get NOTHING back"
There are countless Italian families now who find themselves in this scenario: the parents that are in their 50's worked their whole lives, paid all their taxes, now both parents find themselves without and job and need assistance. The first unemployment check in Italy can take up to 2 years before you see it and they can half it or cut you off at any time. I know families this has happened to.... SOUNDS SO EFFICIENT AS WAS COMMENTED DOESN'T IT!
Also, it is not just bad for Italy's poor or unemployed even those with money here are running with their capital in hand for the borders. Look at Italy's largest and most well known companies GUCCI, BVLGARI, LORO PIANO have been sold to the French. Telecom Italia has been sold the Spanish (a move which can even compromise national security as Italy no longer has control over it's own telecommunications). Alitalia (the flag carrier airline of Italy) is about to be sold to ETHIAD (Arab). Valentino has already been sold to the Qatari royal family. WOW a country who's largest industries prefer to be sold or cross the borders than deal with the bullsh*t and PUNITIVE tax code within their own country of origin sure sounds like a reeling success don't you think???
Finally according to Transparency International which ranks countries according to corruption. Italy is number 72 on the list. It is the 2nd most corrupt country in Europe (after only Greece) and there are 5 AFRICAN nations less corrupt than it. A report which came out on February 3rd from Bruxelles states corruption costs the European Union 120 billion euros a year and half of that corruption 60 billion euros takes place in Italy alone which is the absolute bread winner in the corruption playing field in Europe.
As far as government goes, Italy just got a new prime minster Matteo Renzi, after the government fell and the prime minister was replaced for the 3rd time in 3 years. Talk about STABILITY! EFFICIENCY=GUARANTEED Why didn't you report that news to the doctors and nurses in Italy's and one of Europe's most prestigious research hospitals in Rome last summer. This is where the doctors and nurses were staging a hunger strike on the roof of the hospital as they hand't seen a pay check in over 4 months. All this while "REGIONE LAZIO" the public entity responsible for their paychecks was embroiled in scandal (happens every day in Italy) the public ministers and magistrates where caught with their hands in the states' coffers using pubic funds for their own private disposal. They even threw a 30 thousand euro ANCIENT ROME TOGA PARTY while public officials had gone months with no paycheck.
So before any of you make such an OUTRAGEOUS AND FALLACIOUS comment such as: "Italian government is among the most efficient and least corrupt" I tell you turn off your computer, buy yourself a ticket, and get your behind over to Italy and see for yourself how it really is. Also, realize whatever you are reading about Italy on CNN, CBS, Fox, is a bunch of bullish*t. No news story can ever encapsulate the human experience/toll of an actual place unless you go there and live in it!
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