Shops are open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 3:30 or 4 p.m. to 7:30 or 8 p.m., with some variation in Northern Italy (Milan, Turin), where the lunch break is shorter and shops close earlier. Prices are reasonable and the quality of goods is usually  high. Chain stores such as La Rinascente, Coin, Upim, and Standa are found in many Italian cities and towns.
Some excellent purchase options are: Clothes for men and women (dresses, shoes, gloves, silk ties, shirts); lacework, jewelry, leather goods (handbags, cases, boxes, luggage), ceramics, gold and silver hems, alabaster, woodwork, straw, embroidery, glass and crystal ware. It is advisable to carry merchandise purchased with you in order to avoid any inconvenience.
Nightlife in ITALY - You'll find the bars full of all age groups; old and young, families and singles, and sometimes even minor children with their parents.
Of course the bars serve drinks, but no one actually get really drunk. It's very chilled out and at the same time a lot more civilized. Instead, what you'll find is that people stand around chatting, sometimes nursing the same glass of wine or beer for hours.
Having said that, Italy has a very large national and international student population; in the major cities you'll find that the nightlife is a lot more vibrant and youthful. There's some excellent clubs, playing the very latest in alternative, techno, ambient and drum n bass music. The nights start late and go on well into the early hours.
In Italy, most of the restaurants have tables outside, so you can enjoy your evening meal while experiencing the wonderful Italian weather and colourful street theatre. There are also some fantastic open-air concerts held all over the country during the summer evenings.
Food & Wine
The main characteristic of Italian cooking is its healthy balance, the excellent basic ingredients being simply cooked and retaining their original goodness and freshness. Simple and yet with such a variety of flavors and rich inventiveness in preparation, that even the most demanding gourmet is delighted.
Italian breakfast is quite different from American or English. Colazione is usually light: cappuccino (coffee and milk) and a brioche (sweet pastry), or simply espresso (black-short-strong coffee).
Pranzo (lunch) is the big meal except in the industrialized cities. It consists of antipasto (starter) a primo piatto (pasta, rice or soup), a secondo piatto (meat or fish) with contorno (vegetable or salad), then frutta ( fresh fruit). Finish with espresso and maybe a grappa or amaro (strong digestive liqueur).
Cena (dinner) is similar to lunch. Nowadays there is a tendency of having a light lunch, then dinner becomes the major meal.
 Where to eat ?
There are thousands of ristoranti (restaurants): the most formal type of place to eat when one is not in a hurry, sometimes a little fancy and pricy and family-run; trattoria and osteria: less formal than a ristorante, where local specialties are served; panineria: a sandwich bar, where a quick meal can be had at any time of the day; pizzeria: is not only for pizza lovers!
ITALY Wine - "Italy is not only the largest producer of wines, but above all a producer of great wines.”
Its climate, soil and very old traditions of viticulture make Italy a natural wine growing nation. The wines are as personal as a name, as different as the colors of the rainbow and as much a part of Italian life as almost 3,000 years of tradition can make them. The Etruscans of North-Central Italy, who created one of the peninsula's earliest civilizations, left evidence of how to make wine. The Greeks who soon after established themselves in the South gave Italy the name Enotria (the land of wine).
For centuries wine growing has been the cultivation which used most of the labor of the Italian farmers; this is still true today; a large part of the population is engaged in the vine and wine industry.
Other Italian drinks include aperitifs, blended principally over a base of the world-famous Piedmont Vermouth;dessert wines, such as Moscato, Marsala and Malvasia from Sicily and sparkling wines from Piedmont, Veneto, Tuscany and the Islands. Italy also has excellent beers and a great variety of effervescent mineral waters.
Thermal Spas
Italy's richness in thermal and mineral waters, combined with the mildness of the climate and the beauty of the scenery, have made it a favourite venue for "health care tourism". Since the last century hotels with extensive facilities have grown up  around spas, which have established international reputations. Abano, Salsomaggiore, Chianciano, Montecatini, Fiuggi and Ischia are just a few names among the many which are known throughout the world and which attract millions of visitors every year.
Thermal Waters in Italy
In this field Italy has taken up and developed a practice which has been widespread through-out the peninsula since the time of the Romans, when thermal waters and baths were already a typical feature of town life. Interest in the Italian spas is not exclusively for health care reasons. Their proximity to great centers of art makes the spa resorts excellent bases for cultural excursions. In addition the splendid parks surrounding the most famous spas, and the infrastructure which has been created for leisure activities, make them ideal holiday resorts in their own right. Italian thermal spas are not only those which exploit hot water resources (as the literal meaning of the word "thermal" might suggest) since mineral water springs are now also generally included in this category.
The Major Thermal Spa Regions
The determining factor in the presence of hot water or mineral springs is the geology of Italy, a relatively young country, which is rich in volcanic phenomena and permeated, in every sense of the word, by a dense network of groundwater channels. In north-eastern Italy many spas have developed on the slopes of the Euganei Hills in Veneto, volcanic highlands where numerous hot water springs gush out. The main form of treatment is mud therapy, recommended for rheumatic illnesses and problems of the respiratory organs and the female genital organs. Abano Terme alone has almost two million visitors a year, half of whom come from abroad.
Moving further south, there is a series of thermal resorts in Emilia-Romagna on the foothills of the Apennines. There are about fifteen localities, including in particular Tabiano, Salsomaggiore, and Castrocaro, all of which have the word "Terme" (Spa) as part of their official names. The springs have chemical properties which are all very similar ( predominantly sulphurous, or containing sodium chloride, iodide or bromide). They are recommended for a wide range of afflictions: metabolism disorders, problems of the respiratory system and the vascular system and skin diseases.
Another Italian region with a high concentration of spas is Tuscany. The exploitation of this resource also has a long tradition  here. A number of springs which were already in use in Roman times are still popular today, including Saturnia, Roselle, Chianciano and Chiusi. In this century the Tuscan resorts have changed from being exclusive meeting places and holiday locations. Montecatini and Chianciano have acquired ever greater importance and the statistics confirm the reputation which they have built up. Montecatini has 1,700,000 visitors a year (a quarter of them from abroad) while Chianciano counts 1,860 000 (180,000 foreign).
The spa resorts in Latium are linked to the volcanic activity which has shaped the morphology of much of the region. Bagni di Tivoli, on the outskirts of the capital and Fiuggi, further east, are especially well known. Fiuggi waters are especially noted for the treatment of renal calculus and their fame has led to the development of 250 hotels.
In southern Italy the numerous spas forming an arc around the Gulf of Naples are extremely important. This is one of the most active volcanic zones in Italy with heat bursting through from a supply of magma underground. which is very close to the surface. Ischia has 2,400,000 visitors a year (about 700,000 of whom are foreigners); oral treatment, baths (including steam baths) and mud treatment are recommended in particular for rheumatism, arthritis, obesity and metabolism disorders.
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