  Italian worker: “I am very efficient at work. In fact, I have never once missed a coffee break.” You're traveling around rural Italy and suddenly it's noon. Time for lunch! But every restaurant, trattoria and osteria are closed! In small towns, even pizzerias will be closed. The same goes for car rentals, post offices, pharmacies and possibly the local police station! The signs say they are closed from 12 - 3 pm. These towns appear to be ghost towns during the early afternoon, and sometimes even later! You're about to learn about the Italian cultural phenomena call riposo (also called la pausa--the pause). This is the period that shop keepers close up and take a long lunch and perhaps a nap, for over three hours! The word riposo literally translates as "the rest". So, how did this riposo thing get started in Italy (and other Mediterranean countries (called siesta in Spain)? Many attribute it to the heat and humidity in the middle of the day--which can get extreme in summer--combined with the typically heavy meals eaten as lunch in the Mediterranean diet. Lunch, or pranzo, is pretty much the main meal for Italians, along with taking a three hour lunch. If they live close to their workplace, they will go to la casa di famiglia where Mamma or Nonna has a great meal waiting. Then a short nap before heading back to work at 3:30 or 4, where they might finish their workday around 7 pm. Simply put, people get drowsy after a big meal. Italians supposedly are embracing this biological fact as part of their natural clock. They have a very small colazione (breakfast)--cornetto and caffe--many go to a "bar" for a coffee break--Italians can't live without espresso. Their main meal is in early pomeriggio (afternoon). They nap when their body says to nap, whereas Americans are out of tune with their natural rhythms. In the evening, an aperitivo with friends and a small dinner or pizza and a passeggiare (stroll) around the main street or piazza. One of the most surprising and frustrating things we discovered in Italy was how the riposo effects places of business. Shopkeepers tend to go home for riposa. And no, they don't rotate their staff during the 3-4 hour riposo, they simply close the shop. Americans let workers have lunches either rotate staff in shifts or for very strict time periods,, often as short as 30 minutes. Rush rush rush. The Italian way of life is much more laid back and humanistic. It's a domani (tomorrow) way of thinking. Spending time with family, enjoying a nice meal all together, and then perhaps taking a nap is much more important than mere business. What we would consider as Good Will for customers is a lower priority in Italy. From an American point of view, many will simply not understand it. When you visit Italy, you have to learn to travel at their pace. Now some travel "experts" on the Internet say that we should embrace all this and plan to visit churches during lunchtime and look at frescoes and mosaic floors. NO! It's usually too damned hot and humid to visit such sites during the mid-day hours, even during the fringe, cooler months. You might consider taking a break from the heat of the day and go back to your hotel or rental for a couple of hours until the day cools off a bit. Voyagers need to learn how to find food during the riposa. One solution we used was making sure we always had fixings for an impromptu lunch or picnic in our car: cheese, bread, sausage, foccacia, fruit, tomato and gassata (sparkling water) . We also found that for some reason or other, gelaterias are almost always open during lunchtime--Lord knows why. So, gelato and cold drinks became our early lunches on some days, picnics were the norm on many others. Of course, in a large city like Rome or Florence riposa isn't really a problem. After all, there are so many tourists in the big cities, and with their shopkeepers and restaurants dependent on the tourist trade, they stay open. But in smaller towns, I can't tell you how many times we came out of an early morning visit to a museum or other tourist site and couldn't find any place to have lunch. A Real Solution: The Italian Bar is Not My Father's Bar  Lunchtime offerings in an Italian bar, bruschetta, pizza, foccacia, and even pasta.  Panini for lunch My Dad often stopped at a local bar on the way home from work... a place to drink beer, mixed drinks or whiskey. The only food might be a bowl of pretzels or chips sitting on the bar or hard boiled eggs or pickles in a jar. As I got into my early teens, I'd sometimes meet him and have a Coke with a wedge of lime and nibble on the pretzels. I felt grown-up perched on a bar stool next to my work-a-day Dad. In Italy, a bar is a very different thing. In fact, most North American visitors to Italy are totally unaware that when they see a sign for a "Bar", they should really translate it as "Coffee and Sandwich Shop", which Italians use to get their morning espresso and cornetto or sweet pastry, or for grabbing a panino or pizza at lunch. Of course, in big cities there are cocktail bars where you can have an aperitivo and small bites, but remember, most Italians don't really drink much. Having an after work aperitivo with friends is a social thing, and not really about the drinking. In fact, many we've seen from Tuscany down to Puglia were rarely closed for riposo. They are a perfect workaround when restaurants are closed. Virtually every bar in Italy--besides being "the" place to stop for your morning hit of espresso before work--is also a great place to stop and get some sort of lunch... snacks, panini (sandwiches), focaccia, pizza and other things that will satisfy most tourists for a quick, affordable lunch. In most, you select whatever they have pre-prepared in their showcases, but many Mom and Pop places will whip something up for you on the spot. To be honest, this little fact got past us too during our first visit. Perhaps because we were traveling with our 11 year old son and, like most Americans, never would think of taking an 11 year-old into a place labeled "bar". I'm my opinion, this is a fairly big gap in the information out there about traveling and eating in Italy. Remember... Bar = Espresso + Pastries + Food.  It would be prudent for the Italian Tourist Board to promote the fact that Bars aren't a dark, seedy place for people chug-a-lugging beer, whiskey and wine. Perhaps a new official sign and icon hung outside shops (similar to tabacchi signs). Fully two-thirds of Italy's Gross Domestic Product (approximately 69%) is represented by the services sector--tourism. Both North American tourists and Italian businesses would be served by promoting Italian Bars as family friendly, using a word that Italians invented: Caffeteria! Figuring Out When Shops Are Open Here are some words that you might see on signs posting operational hours: giorni feriali Weekdays (literally, working days) settimanale Weekly quotidiano Daily ogni ora Hourly Hours of operation--even when listed on the door of shops--are very loosey-goosey. Often you will see a sign with the shopkeeper's cell number. They might live nearby and be able to come and open the shop for you. Remember, this is the culture of domani... everything can wait until tomorrow.  This shop's July and August hours show Monday, Wednesday and Sunday afternoons are closed, and other days having riposo from 12:30 to 4pm. If you see a logo that looks like a crossed hammer and sickle, it's not a symbol for communism, it simply refers to "workdays", meaning Monday through Saturday. If you see giorni festivi, simply festivi, this refers to Sundays and religious holidays (there will be a small cross). There are many that Italians close for--remember, it's a Catholic country. All religious holidays are National holidays.
If you see a sign saying chiuso per ferie, it means closed for the holidays. The "holiday" in August means 3-4 weeks--for most of Italian workers. The more official summer is called Ferragusto and begins on August 15th. Shops close up and whole families go to beach resorts or camping. If you see chiuso per lutto, this means they are closed for mourning. Most shops are closed on Sundays whether they go to church or stay at home watching the soccer matches. Enjoy your Voyage and don't forget to check out the local bars for a snack! --Jerry Finzi |
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