Page 333 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide: Great Places to Stay in Europe

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I TA L Y 333
3 3 3

April (Liberation Day); 1 May;
15 August (Ferragosto, or
Assumption); 1 November
(All Saints); 8 December
(Immaculate Conception);
25 and 26 December.
USEFUL WORDS
Breakfast Prima colazione
Lunch Pranzo
Dinner Cena
Free rooms? Camere libere?
How much? Quant’è?
A single Una camera singola
A double Una camera doppia
Stately Principe di Savoia in Milan, page 348 ITALY PRICE BANDS
price tariffs for rooms with make – a pleasant change OST HOTEL prices vary
shared facilities. A shower is from other European countries. Maccording to whether
a doccia. Most places have As well as public call boxes it’s low or high season. The
showers and baths combined. (which take coins and phone- maximum price is displayed
cards – called a scheda tele- (by law) on the back of the
OTHER PRACTICAL fonica), in most big towns room’s door.
INFORMATION there are Telecom Italia offices Our price bands refer as
with private phone booths – usual to the price of a stan-
OU’LLOFTEN find air- handy for long-distance calls. dard double room with
Yconditioning in hotels, To make a phone call within bathroom in high season.
but heating in anything but Italy, always dial the full prefix, Breakfast is usually
the depths of winter should even for a local number. To included in the price quoted;
not be taken for granted. call Italy from the UK, dial 00, local taxes can creep in as an
then the international dialling extra at any time, especially
Language Italians are good code 39; then the number, in the historic or ‘art’ cities.
linguists. English, French and including the initial zero; from
German are widely spoken, the US, 001 39. ¡ under 105 EUR
especially in tourist areas. ¡¡ 105–170 EUR
Public holidays 1 January; ¡¡¡ 170–230 EUR
Currency From 1 January 6 January; Easter Monday; 25 ¡¡¡¡ above 230 EUR
2002, the European euro
(written ‘EUR’), made up of
100 cents.
Shops Open 8 or 9am–12:30
or 1pm Mon–Sat, and then
from 3:30–7 or 8pm. Museum
times tend to follow the same
pattern. In northern cities,
businesses and some shops
are open through the day.
Shops are closed on Sunday
except in tourist resorts, but
usually you’ll find a pasticceria
(essentially, a delicatessen)
open first thing in the day
for essentials.
Tipping Waiters don’t rely
on tips in the same way as
in other European countries
(if lucky, they will get a share
of the profits), but Italians
usually round up the bill.
Telephoning Many hotels,
especially the unassuming
kind, make no profit from
phone calls their guests T The lobby of the Four Seasons, Milan, page 348