She will find cookbooks in English galore, but some will have metric measures and some will have American measures so be sure to look inisde!

You don't need to tip hairdressers, but of course it is a nice thing to do.

I live in Italy and I would caution your wife that it is always difficult to communicate what you want to a hairdresser even when you speak the same language. Also, many Italian stylists are much more experienced with Italian cuts and colorings than the with styles that are fashionable in other places. Many Italians stylists really don't have any experience with straight hair or fine hair.

If your wife really has no choice but to cut her hair cut in Florence because you will be in Italy for such a long time, or if she is just determined to do this because it sounds like so much fun, I highly recommend that she bring photographs of herself sporting her favorite haircut, from all angles, or pictures from a magazine if she wants to change styles.

Good luck. I use Toni & Guy in Italy, but I've never used their salon in Florence. You can probably find reviews on the web.

http://www.toscana-imprese.it/pages/azienda.cfm?id=64704

Zeppole, thanks for the great advice it was really helpful!

My wife had another question about the haircut.

What is the usual price of hair cut with no coloring? Thanks all.

For English language books, including cookbooks, try Paperback Exchange on Via delle Oche. Don't let the store's name fool you - it's much more than paperbacks! Many of the cookbooks are English translations of Italian cookbooks.

One of the haircutters that was at Antica Tintoria, Massimo, has opened up his own tiny yet very intimate and friendly shop called Naturality on Via de' Ginori, just a few steps from the basilica of San Lorenzo.