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I've never heard this mentioned on the board and my wife and I drink iced tea at dinner instead of alcohol. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

mygoodnesshariet

Iced tea at dinner! ok... first of all forget the fact that it interferes with your digestion to drink very cold drinks with your meal... <BR> <BR>what you'll have to do, i'm sure, is order a tea (as most restaurants in Paris & Rome certainly have marvelous teas such as earl grey, darjeeling, etc., earl grey should be very nice iced) and then separately ask for a glass of ice - then YOU combine them yourself. My strong suggestion is you learn how to ask for this in THEIR language (in both french & italian) since it will be an odd request to them and probably not always understood if asked for in english, even if they do speak it.

TexasJaz

You can order iced tea in Italy. But, unless you are certain of the safety of drinking the water, it is best to drink bottled water. You can get that chilled. <BR>In Italy they think we Americans are crazy to drink something cold to cool off. They drink hot drinks when it is hot and cold when it is cold, or so my tour director explained. <BR>Seriously, for your digestive system's sake, stick with bottled water and have some gelato (Italian ice cream).

elvira

I did find iced tea in Paris, at a cafe in Place de Tertre - for $8. I think I saw it in one of the cafeterias in a department store, but don't remember which one. And I'm sure you can get it in McDonald's. <BR> <BR>As others have suggested, try bottled waters. Our favorite is Badoit, slightly fizzy (more like Champagne bubbles than seltzer bubbles) and mineraly.

Lauren

On a hot day in Tours, I ordered a glass of ice tea. What I got was a glass of HOT tea with ONE ice cube in it. LOL. Not exactly what I thought I would get, but--hey--it was France!

AnnaC

I can't speak for Italy, but certainly in France iced tea is not a widely known or understood drink in cafes (although you can buy bottles of it in supermarkets and shops everywhere, so I don't see why they don't translate that to cafes, but they don't). <BR> <BR>If you want a cool refreshing drink, I'd recommend asking for either a "citron presse" or "orange presse". There should be an acute accent on the last e of presse, by the way, so these would be pronounced sit-ron press-ay and or-onj press-ay. <BR> <BR>What you get then is lemon or orange juice in a glass, usually with ice, with separate sugar and cold water. You can then dilute and sweeten to your taste. Citron can be pretty sharp as you'd imagine, but with the sugar and water it makes for a really refreshing drink. Orange is great for those who like something a little less zingy.

Gerry

My wife and I also don't drink alcohol. But why limited to ice tea? You have to be a little flexible when traveling. We had no problem ordering softdrinks, water or juice anywhere. <BR>By the way, the water is Rome is absolutely safe. They are the ones that invented the modern water system after all. But for some reason you are expected to order bottled water in a restaurant. (Maybe someone could explain this one? I only have theories.) In Rome its either gas(sparkeling) or non-gas(plain). <BR> <BR>Have a great trip, <BR> <BR>Gerry

Santa Chiara

I am originally from Texas; ice tea (and in Texas is "ice tea," not the correct, "iced tea") is the national drink. In Italy you can find iced tea in bottles, but I have only seen it in lemon or with peach flavor, never plain. You can get this in bars, but maybe at the restaurant it would be easier to just order water, either frizzante or naturale, as others have suggested. <BR> <BR>Yes, Italians think Americans are crazy with our ice fixation.

Rex

I disagree with - - and I am a little surprised by most of these answers - - they just don't match with my recent experience. Just as in America, Lipton and other companies are marketing pre-packaged iced teas in bottles and cans, and it is quite widely available in Italy. <BR> <BR>I might not have expected this, but on my last trip to Italy, my mother-in-law saw someone else being served a bottle (or can, I forget) of Lipton iced tea, and from that day on, she started asking for it at almost every meal, and almost always got it. And they pretty much always called it simply "iced tea" (no Italian translation). They DID often ask "pesca?" (peach), which she frequently did get. And getting ICE to put in it was still as uncommon as it always been. <BR> <BR>I'm guessing that it might be found similarly in Paris, especially in places that cater to Americans (and the places we ate in Rome, Assisi, Ravenna and Venice were NOT particularly oriented to Americans). <BR> <BR>Best wishes, <BR> <BR>Rex <BR>

jeanne

Just to add to Rex's comment-in Paris I have also found the canned variety to be widely available. I don't like ice tea-so am not sure-but I am pretty sure the canned variety is sweet-either regular or low cal

Lori

I think that the bottled ice teas are becoming more popular in Europe. We found Snapple in Paris. (No, we didn't buy it).

Hans H

Gerry: The restaurants get much of their profit from the drinks. If you eat in a cheap restaurant in Germany, a glass of water costs a third of the meal and brings probably as much profit. <BR>If they offered free tap water, they would sell less drinks. It's accepted that selling drinks at inflated prices is part of the price calculation by the restaurant owners.

dan woodlief

I have had the peach iced tea from a machine in Paris. One of the metro stations. It was as good as any other canned tea.

StCirq

I agree with Rex. Iced tea is now ubiquitous in both France and Italy. They have as many varieties of bottled/"cartoned" iced tea as we do in the States, and those bottles/cartons say "iced tea" on them, not. e.g, "thé glacé," so in France if you want to order "iced tea," you can say "iced tea," with a nice French accent. You will, however, get the bottled variety if you say that, and it will almost invariably be peach- or raspberry-flavored. You need to specify "citron" if you want the lemon-flavored kind. If what you actually want is real iced tea (not bottled), ask for thé glacé - then you might get real tea with ice, OR you might get the bottled variety, depending on whether the restaurant or café stockes the bottled kind. But the bottom line is you can drink iced tea anywhere and everywhere in France and Italy these days. You can even get "fizzy" iced tea, called Liptonic.

Diane

Just back from Italy -- we were even offered ice tea at a pizzeria a couple of blocks from the forum (probably the worst meal we had the whole three weeks, but our blood sugar had dropped after 3 hours in the sun being fascinated by the sights.) Anyway, as others have said, canned and bottled versions were widely available from store self-service coolers, and in hotel mini-bars. By the way, Frigo-bars in Italy offer refreshments no where nearly as outrageously overpriced as in the States. Check out the price list and you may be surprised. Also convenient for chilling refilled water bottles to take out on the next day's touring. We had no problems with tap water in Italy, anywhere. We also ordered bottled water with our meals. I don't think it cost more than $2-3 per LARGE bottle anywhere. Lets those of us who do drink wine to stretch a carafe or bottle of wine throughout the first three courses. (Sometimes that's a challenge when it tastes so good....)Quench your thirst with water, so you can enjoy the wine.

Santa Chiara

My response was based on the fact that I do not consider canned or bottled iced tea as real "ice tea." Only when you can get hot brewed tea poured over a very full glass of ice cubes will you have real ice tea. The strong tea melts the ice, requiring you to put more ice cubes in. As this method is not likely to occur in Italy, at least in my lifetime, then I contend that "ice tea" is not as ubiquitous as some of you believe.

Ursula

In Italy in the summertime, you can order in every bar tè (tea) or caffè freddo. Just ask for additional ice cubes. <BR>In France, they have other refreshing drinks when it's hot like "citron or orange pressé". Lemon or orange juice with a carafe of fresh tabwater. Also try "menthe à l'eau". One of my favourites despite the ugly green colour.

Jean Valjean

San Benedetto offers wonderful bottled "cold" teas in Italy. They come (as far as I recall) in Peach (pesca) and lemon. They are both WAY better than Lipton.

Lou

Hi, <BR> Pre-bottled iced tea should not be difficult to find, but I enjoy trying all of the beverages that are not generally available in the U.S. Many are disappointments, or just not to my taste, but that is part of the cost involved with trying something new. <BR> I have seen adverts for some new tea bags that brew in cold water. You can investigate this at your local market, but it may be more trouble than it is worth.

TexasEx

I'm with Santa Chiara. Snapple doesn't really qualify as "ice tea." It's been 18 years since I was there, but I discovered real ice tea at the WH Smith book store near the Place de la Concorde. It wasn't the quart-size glass you'd get in Texas, but it tasted great. (Alas, no Sweet 'n' Low.)I have just as hard a time finding decent ice tea in Oregon...