Go to Italy and have a great time!<BR><BR>You can eat or drink whatever you want there!<BR><BR>Great Italian food, do you like that?

Shirley<BR><BR>Be sure to check the prices for the softdrinks. In some places they are about $5 a can. I would also be wary of ordering ice b/c it can be quite expensive also. You are typically safe ordering a litre of acqua naturale and to be sure you're not going to get frizzante you can say non frizzante.

Dear Shirley,<BR><BR>I suggest you go for non-imported softdrinks that will cost less than American softdrinks. Lemon soda is my favorite. You could also ask for an aranciata, or orange soda, which is quite tastey here.<BR><BR>Rest assured, you will have no difficulty finding alternatives to coffee and wine.<BR><BR>Best,<BR><BR>Jasmine.<BR>www.scalareale.org

Wow, what a wealth of information!!<BR><BR>Now not only do I know I will have plenty to drink, I also all these great new things to try.<BR><BR>Thanks everyone!!<BR><BR>Shirley

Shirley:<BR><BR>I ask you only one thing: do not ask for soft drinks or milk or cappuccino while having dinner in a restaurant. While drinking water while dinning is buy no means strange, if an adult drinks Coke while eating a large serving of strascinati con le cime di rapa he might really spoil the experience. If you do nt drink wine the only decent drink to have with food is water (allright, some foods also accept beer, by the way, if you drink beer, try the Italian &quot;Menabrea&quot; or &quot;150 anniversario&quot;!), any other taste is bound to spoil the taste of food.

Hi Shirley, I guess most everybody is totally right, I only wish to add, <BR>it is true that all kind of drinks are available in Italy<BR> beer too by the way, the only reason you had the perception that Italians and tourists drank only coffee and wine it is that both are so good in Italy.<BR>Capuccinos are heavenly....nothing similar here in good old US.Please try one ....

Everyone's right! Almost everything is available in bars, and juiced blood oranges are only just this side of paradise. <BR>Be careful, as Denise mentions, of buying cans (latine)near outdoor tourist sites-they are outrageously priced! Take bottled water sight-seeing. <BR>Water, either gassata, con gas (both are carbonated) or senza gas or naturale is wonderful there and easy to obtain in bottles, at restaurants or bars. <BR>There are even tea shops (I know of a great one in Venice!) appearing here and there.<BR>And yes, beer (birra) is almost as tasty as wine! <BR>Do give it a try though-as everyone points out-coffee and wine are a different experience there!

Going back to iced tea, I have to say that I'm a self-respecting Southerner who can't stand sweet iced tea! I always order unsweetened tea and never add sugar. I also prefer sugar on grits. I guess I was a Northerner in another life!

All soft drinks (incl Coke) are available in Italy. Water both with or without gas are available everywhere and you will be asked if you want it with any meal.<BR><BR>Milk can be obtained at all the Bars (places where they serve both tea and coffee as well as alcoholic drinks) if you ask for Latte as opposed to a cafe latte (with coffee). This is usually the warm frothy milk they use is cappuccinos but is delicious for children.<BR><BR>I think tea is becoming more widely accepted throughout Italy and we came across both the standard varieties as well as herbal teas (blackcurrant, apple, vanilla etc) in all sorts of places.<BR><BR>Beware though that in many of the Bars in Italy it will be impossible to sit down to drink as most people stand at the counter for a quick cup on their way and you may have to pay extra to sit down in many places.<BR><BR>Have to say I love the coffee in Italy too - what an instant &quot;hit&quot; especially in the espresso or macchiato (with a little milk) form.<BR><BR>The wine is great too, and much cheaper than the beer surprisingly. Found bottles for around 2 Euro which wasn't half bad for a drink while getting ready for dinner.<BR><BR>

Oh, Jennifer, that is too funny. Do they make you sit alone at family reunions?

Shirley, I don't drink coffee either, and Dad isn't a wine drinker. We did fine on our trip last month! We carried water bottles everywhere (just refilled them from the taps), and mostly had water at dinner. Do be careful about ordering water...make sure you get regular (flat, without gas), or you'll end up with mineral water. Soft drinks are outrageously expensive, but easy enough to find.<BR><BR>And Jennifer, we must be related...also from the south, drink my iced tea unsweetened, and sugar on my grits!!!<BR><BR>Anne

Anne:<BR><BR>Despite the fact that serving plain water from the tap is not forbidden by law, you just can't get a glass of tap water from bars or restaurants: they couldn't make you pay for it, therefore they always serve you mineral water, sparkling or flat but mineral water. Yet, most of the mineral waters sold in italy are &quot;oligominerali&quot;, this means that they are waters with a very low content of minerals, sometimes less than you could find in tap water. Even if you are served water from a jar and not from a bottle all you get is not tap water but mineral water that gets distributed in large... Well, I do not know hot they may be called in English, but let's say large bottles, really huge ones, and served in jars.

Hi Alice, you wrote<BR>&gt;...mineral water that gets distributed in large... but let's say large bottles, ...&lt;<BR><BR> I think the word you are looking for is carbuoy. It is a jug about 1m high.

Ira:<BR>That was the word. Carbuoy... Carbuoy... I'll have to repeat it a few times in order to remind it ^_^<BR>Carbuoy...<BR>Thanks a lot Ira.<BR>Carbuoy...

Am I the only English speaker who's never heard of a &quot;carbouy&quot;? Alice, if you used that term on me, I would think it's an odd Italian word I didn't know!

Shirley, did you honestly believe that wine and coffee were the only beverages available in Italy?

Grasshopper asks<BR>&gt;Am I the only English speaker who's never heard of a &quot;carbouy&quot;? &lt;<BR><BR> Yes. -)

A more common spelling is &quot;carboy&quot; - I love that word - it reminds me ofthe wonderful La Tripolitana in Sarteano - there's a carboy of house red under the counter used to fill the carafes at the trattoria table and liter soda bottles brought in by customers.

Roberta, thank you for the spelling. Such carboys (!) of wine are present in most italian restaurants. The &quot;vino della casa&quot; (house's wine) usually is served this way. In the carboy there might be cheapish but fine wine or a concentrate of scum as well. Not unusually the more costly is the place, the worst the &quot;vino della casa&quot; is.

Grasshopper, I had not heard of a &quot;carboy&quot; before either!!!