While in Venice my husband and I would daily buy a gelati at one of those street stands and walk around with it. One evening after an exhausting day we noticed one larger stand had a few tables and chairs along side so we sat down and ordered tea and gelati-$36.00!!! We learned the hard way to keep walking!

Yep we mad the same mistake on our first trip to Rome a few years ago. We sat down to eat some ice cream and man oh man that was the most expensive (and also some of the tastiest) ice cream we have ever had! Ah, live and learn, but that is why we travel.

In much of Europe, when you sit down in a bar or food establishment, it's expected that you intend to stay a good while even if you just dawdle over a couple of drinks for an hour or two. So you are paying rent for the table.

Yes, this is quite the rule in Italy, especially in very expensive, touristy cities like Venice and Florence. You can also find the same in Lisboa. Follow the locals and STAND at the counter.

Come now, ThinGorjus. Certainly you aren't trying to get us to believe that YOU actually stand.

Well, then again, you did say follow the locals, didn't you? Not necessarily to do as you do, right?

Actually, you are right, I don't stand. But, I am not complaining about prices, am I? However, there are many places in the world I travel to that don't charge extra to sit and have a coffee, like Rio or Buenos Aires, for instance.

When I stop for a coffee in Italy, I usually plan for it to be the quick, standup Italian shot of coffee. In smaller coffee bars, after I've placed the order with the barmen, they have gestured to offer a seat at a table. I've always taken it and never been charged the higher fee. These bars were relatively empty and I assume the barmen were the proprietors. On the other hand, I know if I start out sitting, I should be prepared to pay extra.

We had a similar price tag when we stopped in Venice, however ours included a bottle of wine LOL!

For ThinGor:
I would like to ask you a question regarding an issue on the Latin american board (and I don't want to ask it there) Let me know if you would be ok with email and I'll get my email address to you!
thanks,
Carol

You can email me at [email protected]. I am leaving for the UK on Thursday, but I will probably check my email if not too busy.

Are Americans too timid to inquire about the price before ordering tea and gelati in Italy? That way you would not have to learn the hard lessons.

roterbaron: After paying $10.00 a day for gelati we did expect to pay a little more inside but $20.00 for the same gelati and $16.00 for 2 cups of tea! I guess we were a little too trusting and didn't expect to be ripped off so badly. And by the way, we Americans were not the only ones this happened to. We talked to people from other places who fell for the same trap and learned the "hard lesson".

I thought this was going to be a thread about pigeons.

Why would anyone sit at a cafe when everyone knows you are suppose to hang out on the church steps or on the fountains. (Just kidding)!

LOL, Calamari! That's what I thought the first time I opened it, as well.

Statia

Get on over to "The Sexiest Men" post. We need your opinion.

BTW Great minds...

This reminds me of the time in Lucca when we sat at a small cafe in the middle of the afternoon to order ice cream, which we saw others doing. Unfortunately the waiter didn't speak English and I couldn't understand the flavors he was stating, so I got up from the table, and tried to get the waiter to go with me to the counter so I could point out what we wanted. He walked away from us. I walked over to the counter and told the guy there what two flavors we wanted. He dished them and handed them to me and I carried them back over to the table. The waiter came back and yelled at us and made us leave the table. Suddenly he spoke perfect English by the way.