Top 5 Things to do in Preparing Your Trip To Italy

I would hope that I knew these before my trip to Italy last Spring. There are things that you should learn and know when preparing for your trip to Italy. Off course you can still travel to Italy without knowing these, but you would definitely be appreciating more and getting the maximum out of your Italy trip if you know these 5 things before standing on the Italian ground.

These 5 things are:

1. Learn the history. The history of Italy started as early as 900B.C. From the Roman civilization, Middle Ages and the Renaissance period until it was being united in 1861, Italy has gone through various transformation in terms of politically as well as culturally. They can all be observed from the architecture of its heritage sites. You will appreciate more on the existence of Colleseum and the Duomo and which part of the architecture should you look at, or why the David is so significant if you know a bit of their history. The Italian history can be read online from Wikipedia, or travel books.
   
2. Learn the language. I faced some problems when I wished to buy some Pasticcini from a local operated shop in Venice who doesn’t know English. We had some communication breakdown and I failed to get any eventually, and felt so embarrassed to have missed that food. I should have learnt at least some important and useful Italian language such as numbering, measurement of weight (per 100Gm), measurement of quantities (per piece or bag) or other simple buying language. It is also fun to learn some Italian coffee language and buy a cup of Caffè Bacio like an Italian!
   
3. Learn their culture. It would be more fun to travel to Italy if you know how the Italian dressed, what and how they eat, who they like and how they treat foreigners. Italy has in fact a vast varieties of cultural characteristic, even between regions in the country. Venetian, Tuscan, Roman and Calabrian have their own food culture, though pasta is still the most important element.
   
4. Prepare to fight mix with the locals. Italians are generally outspoken, no matter which region they are coming from. The harsh and straight forward way of communication, though might not mean offensive, can surprise some of us as travelers, if we are not prepared. So, before you go to Italy, you have to prepare to ‘fight’ back by speaking louder! It was fun to speak with Italian.
5. Bring along your telephoto lens. This is the most important thing that I missed out in Italy trip. I missed to bring along any telephoto lens, thinking of to travel lighter, and felt truly regretted when I got there. The architecture and the sculpture in Italy are so great that every minute detail is worth a shot! Without telephoto lens, I could only capture the overall picture but not those details of, such as the cornices on top of roof or those nerves on The Creation of Adam painting!
   

Why am I telling you all these? Because I’ve completed my travelogue to Amsterdam and am going to start my next stories on my Italy travel very soon! – Travel Feeder, your ultimate photo travel blog

About The Author

Cecil Lee

The author is an avid traveler and photography hobbyist who loves to share with others his travel and photo-taking experience in many popular tourist destinations around Europe, Asia and Australasia. Read the exciting stories with many photos captured on his journeys.