First time in Italy. Staying at villa near Barberino Val d'Elsa. Have a ton of questions. Clothing to bring for late September? How much Italian to know and speak? What type of converter is needed for hairdryer, charging PDA, etc. Also, anyone know great pleces to eat, foods to definitely enjoy, makers of leather handbags to purchase and where, and places to absolutely see in that area? Any info would be appreciated on any topic. Thanks!

If your hairdryer and PDA are dual voltage, you won't need a converter, only a plug adaptor. If you do need a voltage converter, be sure it has the right wattage rating for the appliance in use or you'll "fry" the appliance. See this site: www.voltagevalet.com.

Thanks TimS That was really helpful!

Don't bring a hair dryer, most places will have one for you - ask if it isn't already in the room.

If that's not true in your case, buy a cheap local one and bring it back home - someone else you know will gladly use it on their next trip to Europe.

Then you only have to bring a low-wattage transformer for the PDA, but more likely than not the PDA came with a dual-voltage capable charger, so all you will need is the tiny plug adapter to make the US prongs fit the holes in the Italian sockets. You can get these at places like Target and K-Mart these days, in the travel section (not in the elctrical hardware section).

Check the charger for your PDA to see if it accepts 110-240 voltage. Some sold in the US do not.

My palm comes with a whole set of adaptors - in fact as DH & have upgraded over the past five years I have stacks of the little buggers!