What American Tourists Do That Annoy Italians

I think you missed the point a bit about the mafia question. It is not about making us unconfortable about revealing we are in the mafia (?!), It simply hurts that we are seen as criminals, mafia is a serious and complicated matter, and It is unrespectful to see people searching for criminals with curiosity, like It was a glamourus thing. Most of Italians are honest people living an honest life, and if a turist that I am trying to be friend with assumes I am a mafioso I would feel insulted.

Asking someone if they are in the mafia is asking them if they are a criminal. I hope people are not stupid enough to ask that...in any country.

As an Italian
1# Don't f*ck with our food
2# Respect people, culture and cultural places
3# Enjoy yourself, Italia is beautiful ❤️

Sorry, but this is an attitude I have often seen: "I want two subway tickets." For us Italians, not saying hello or saying thank you after you are served is extremely rude. We are very pleased if someone says buongiorno and grazie. Nobody expects you to speak Italian, but a smile, an effort, and good manners are greatly appreciated.

I was in Rome a few weeks ago for our honeymoon, and me and the wife went to get some gelato from a place near the Vatican (I know its a tourist trap but there gelato was delicious) we're scottish but one thing we done was try and speak the language and say simple things like Ciao, gratzi and arrivederci. It put a smile to the guy behind the counter and you can tell he really appreciated us trying to speak the language. Then behind me a pack of american tourists just didnt even bother trying to speak the lingo and his eyes just rolled. Im not picking on all americans but it was just that small cluster that let your team down!

ALSO!!! if you are invited to someone's house, BRING something, even if it is a small bottle of wine.

Is there really someone who asks us italians if we know mafiosi ?😳 Umbelievable!!!! 🤦

We celebrated an anniversary for three weeks in Italy in o6 (wow been 18 years ago now!) and our #1 rule going was remember that we were guests in their country. We weren't gracing them with the honor of our tourism. We really made an effort to learn the language as best as possible for six months and what a huge difference I believe that made. Although I'm sure I sounded like an idiot, it seemed like the effort was appreciated. And humility always goes a long way. We rented a car and put 3000 km on it. It was glorious! I think we enjoyed the more off the beaten path cities the most. Yeah we did Venice but stayed right in the city. Walking the streets and Grand Canal evenings after the daily horde-tide of tourists rolled back out well worth it. Stayed in an 800 year old hotel. The wife blew the electrical within 30 minutes of checking in with her hair dryer LOL. Good times! and memories...

We are in Puglia now, our fourth week of five. Love, love “, love Italy!

Proud of you! You're a role model: a professor in Illinois, who shows about other cultures and life!

Went to Italy for the first time last Sept and the Italians are fabulous! They were the kindest, most engaged people-- a breath of fresh air for this introvert. I noticed when I spoke the little Italian words I had learned from your other videos, they were most appreciative. I definitely want to go back soon!

We just returned from a 13 day adventure in Italy. Wonderful food and people. Good times

Mark, this makes me want to go back to Italy right now. :). I went to a restaurant that looked open but it was 3:30 and they weren’t serving food. I said. “Ok, is it ok if we sit and have a drink ?” The owner came over with our drinks and a sampler of all their pizza for free! He said “you’re hungry. It’s ok “.

Actually, being italian and introverted, living here really forced me to open up to other people as much as I could. You know, those friends that are everywhere, that want you to go out with them, meet people, and so on. And I gotta say it's the mediterranean vibe. I gotta thank these people so different from me, I know in northern europe if you're shy, you just drink alone at a bar and then go home. They never let me indulge in enjoy loneliness. And I gotta say even if here in rome I'm the quiet, shy one, in Japan or Norway I end up being recognized as very friendly and talkative...LOL

I've been to Italy twice. I would go back again and again if I could 🥰 Beautiful people 😊

Say “panini” (plural) to designate 1 panino (singular)

Perfect timing as I’m headed to Italy in a few weeks!

Traveled to England to take in two football matches.The first was at Old Trafford, in Manchester,to take in Man United v Chelsea. Brought the Man United scarf and wore it around my neck during the game. We had to hustle out of there because we had a 3+ hour drive to Newcastle, we had tickets to the next days game, Newcastle v Liverpool. Got to the hotel and as I approached the desk to check in, I did not hear hello, the first thing was, "you might want to take off that Man United scarf", in a nice way. I did 🙂.

Also, when you try to speak some Italian, make sure it makes sense. Like, Ciao makes sense because you are greeting someone. However, listing foods from a restaurant menu is not a way to show off your Italian. I have met several foreigners going "ayyy pasta, mozzarella, pizza, peperoni!!" Unless you are actually ordering all that food, you shouldn't walk around and tell it to random people 😆

I'd won't call any old lady "nonna": it can be seen as rude, unless you are related to each other or you have a very close relationship. Same goes with greeting with "ciao" any strangers on the street.