angelamour44

in a few months, i will be moving to italy for school. I'm a bit nervous and was wondering if any of you travel veterans had any tips. i have never been to europe, and was wondering if anyone could give some comforting advice to an 18 year old american girl traveling alone.

Indymajic

I just returned from my honeymoon (Sep.)
Rome, Venice, Pisa, & Amalfi coast. One of the most surprising things, was that almost everyone spoke English. Try and learn some key Italian phrases, and I'm sure you will pick it up very fast. Don't be nervous, just be nice and polite, and you will be fine. Enjoy every day, it will go by faster than you will believe.

siena_us

I have lots of info at my site about moving to and living here in Italy. http://www.cristinasweb.com I too am an American who came to Italy for school. Only thing is, I loved it so much I stayed. Where are you headed? I also host a forum on this subject at http://www.slowtalk.com if you want to talk to others who have made the move.

Good luck!
Cristina

angelamour44

I will be in Rome at John Cabot University. The move won't officially happen until August, but italy's been a dream for me for a long time

angelamour44

thanks for all of the help, i registered on slowtalk, I had problems accessing your web page though, could you post a link to it? Thanks again

siena_us

Strange that you had problems but sometimes they do maintenance which throws everything off. Here is the address again:
http://www.cristinasweb.com

ira

Hi angel,

Lucky you.

SlowTalk will be a very good place for you to get detailed advice on living in Italy.

Even if the University will be offering you Italian classes, now is a good time to start learning the language. If you do a text search for "italian language tapes" you will get some suggestions.

Have you done research on Italy's history, geography and culture? Being well prepared will reduce the feeling of being disoriented when you arrive.

Upon exiting FCO, follow the crowds, and the signs, to the train station. The Leonardo da Vinci takes you to the Rome TE station.

www.multimap.com will provide you an interactive map for all of Italy.

Italian women are more reserved than American women. This causes Italian men to think that if you smile at them you are encouraging their advances. The Italian for "NO" is "NO".

As Sophia Loren once remarked in one of her films, "Keep your nose up and your skirts down".

After the first week, you will probably be completely acclimated.

Let us know how your visit goes.

siena_us

Ira,

While some Italian women may be reserved (I do not know any), the fact of the matter is just that Italian women are not fooled by the lines that Italian men use!

angelamour44

Thanks for all of the help and I'll keep posting to let you know how the move goes.

Natalia

How about Italian men being fooled by the wiles of an American Tourist?

More my style.

siena_us

Oh the stories I could tell of gullible tourists (not just American)going off and having flings with Italians.

Natalia

Oh, I bet they werent so gullible, I bet they knew very well what they were doing.
Sorry to get off on this tangent, angelamour44.

MizzEve

Christina, I must disagree. I don't think it has anything to do with being Italian or American. It's the "I'm on vacation" mentality. Everytime I travel with other women, at least one of us gets involved in a romantic relationship. Male travelers are just as susceptible. There's something romantic and freeing about being in another land.