Bar? Piazza? Passeggiata? Mamma Mia! What's all this? Besides, it's ten in the morning, I can't go to a bar!
Maybe you try to stay away from bars where you live, especially in the morning, but in Italy, a bar is usually quite a different animal from the dimly lit watering holes in the US. You can get coffee drinks, pastries, a reasonably priced glass of wine, and, yes, there's even liquor as well, offered almost as an afterthought. And you can often take your coffee outside, in the piazza.
The Italian bar might be hopping any time of the day. And a good barista will remember your favorite libation---and can often tell you lots about the area.
One day we ended up in the Ligurian village of Cicagna with a friend of ours who wanted to learn more about some ancestors who came from there. Where did we go for information? Why yes, the local bar would do.
Not only did we get to taste the "Ferrari of beers" called Menabrea, a local small brew, but we learned that if you pronounced the name of the beer like tourists might...well, let's just say it our attempts meant "self abuse" in local dialect. Then we got a short history of the area (a famine in 1847 marked the beginning of immigration towards America, especially California, providing muscle for the 'Gold Rush" of 1848. Thus, lots of Italo-Americans look for their roots in Cicagna.) Then the barman found us a patron that worked near the office of public records where we needed to go, and she would walk us there.
In Italy, a bar can be the best tourist office, especially in small towns.
So maybe you do want to go to the bar in the piazza after the evening's passeggiata. Yes, of course you do.
Need help with all the terms? Don't know about the tradition of passeggiata? We've started an Italian Travel Glossary to help you sort things out. Need to know other terms? Leave a comment.
this is lovely. http://www.lalaska.com