Italy for someone who doesn't drink wine or coffee...
I'm going to Italy with my wife and we don't drink wine or coffee. Are we going go to run out of stuff to do? :)
I'm really wonding what the alternatives will be at some of the restuarants. Is this going to really mess up our dining experience. Are there any fellow travellers out there who don't drink wine or beer who could share their experiences with me?
Brent
Tucson, AZ US 1/24/13
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Well we drink as much wine as we can, but no your abstention will not be a problem. Just order tap or bottled water or a soft drink you do like.
Don't worry about it. I never got into the nasty coffee habit and drink alcohol sparingly; it's never been an issue...don't even need to think about it or plan around it. Coffee and wine (alcohol) are a big part of our culture as well, if you were to travel to say New York City would it have any impact on your visit; of course not:)
If it makes you feel any better, I was in Milan a couple of years ago and had dinner at neighborhood pizzeria that caters mostly to the locals. Nobody was drinking any wine. Instead folks were ordering liter bottles of coca-cola for the table.
No one cares what you are drinking. Order a juice, water or soda.
I wasn't overly concerned about what other people thought of me. Really, I was wondering what the reasonable alternatives were. I'm sorry I didn't communicate that better.
The alternatives are literally the exact stuff you will find here.
Except of course..... no Root Beer;)
Well... not all the alternatives are the same as here... for a few years I was addicted to Dr. Pepper and it is almost impossible to find there:))
I have since kicked the habit and drink no soda...and very little wine, so most of the time it is just water for me, and just tap water is fine and cheap.
American brand soft drinks and fruit juices are universally available in restaurants. You'll never go dry
I suggest reading some travel guides on Italy, available even at your local library. You'll never run out of things to do in Italy with so much history, architecture, culture and food to experience.
You won't believe all the food an Italian family eats when they go out for a night on the town. Every person will have an appetizer, a first course, a main course and dessert. It's almost enough food to kill a mortal person.
My wife and I stayed in an agriturismo, and cooked most nights. When we ate out, we just ate one item (one course) and it was all we could handle. And we never found any lasagne that wasn't great. We'd eat a slice of pizza for a quick meal when in town.
Order a bottle of sparkling water with dinner. Or if you like something with flavor. San Pelligrino (an Italian brand) makes nice sparkling sodas that are lightly flavored with lomon or orange. Nowt sweet like American soft drinks (which I can't stand and do not drink).
More wine for me!!!!
You can pretty much order the same thing you would at home. A soda, juice or water.
Donna
What do you drink in restaurants here that you think might not be available in Italy? (Serious question.)
Egg Creams
One note about soft drinks if that's your preference: They are typically far more expensive than house wine, so sticking with water in restaurants is an economical idea. At first, I kept forgetting about the cost diet Coke, until I saw each bill.
And you might try some of the coffee drinks, unless you have a specific reason not to. At home I don't like coffee or espresso drinks, but I find European espresso drinks much more mild and a nice desert (with added milk and sweetener).
If you don't drink them because you don't think you like them, give it a try. Maybe you might like espresso even if you don't like coffee in America (I can't blame you for that).
If you don't drink them for religious reasons, you might want to consider converting to a more permissive religion. If not, I would stick to sparkling water, which is not as overpriced as soda.
If you don't drink them because of health reasons, you might want to consider changing doctors.
But there is plenty of stuff to drink in Italy besides espresso or wine.
@ Roberto . How about Root Beer or Egg Creams ? or Dr. Pepper
No one's mentioned tea and I'm addicted. What about teas instead of coffee?
I drink a cup of coffee maybe once every 4-5 years, maybe less - never really liked the taste. But I found myself addicted to cafe macchiato, which is warmed milk "stained" with coffee. It's simply wonderful! The only issue is that it's really supposed to be only had in the daytime, so when I get cravings and want it after dinner, I do get some odd looks.
My other obsession is orange Fanta - tastes completely different from our version, more like orange juice meets Sprite as opposed to an artificially orange flavored soda. Wonderful!!!
Hi Brent. No worries...you won't run out of things to do by not drinking wine &/or coffee. I don't drink wine or coffee either and it was never a problem. I basically ordered water or a coke at every restaurant. My husband enjoys wine and usually ordered some wine with dinner but truly, it's not a problem if you don't drink wine or coffee. Enjoy your trip.
Brent, you will find a good ion of tea drinks ( hot and cold) some with fruit juice added; you can order these any time of day.
Monique, I never drink soft drinks here at home... but in Europe I Love Orange Fanta!
Like others, I don't drink coffee or wine... it's a non-issue in Italy... or anywhere.
We just returned from a trip to southern Italy and found drink prices higher than 3 years ago. Unless it was something special we ordered a 1 litre bottle of water, averaging 2-3 euro, and that was enough for 2 people. We did not want to chance upsetting our stomachs with tap water. Soda prices averaged 3-4 euro, but at one place close to the Vatican it was 12 euro for a XL Coke! Wines were 6 euro for a glass of house wine. Most tables had a bottle of water, so you will not be out of place.
We don't drink wine (or any alcohol - beer, ugh...sorry fellow beer-swigging Canadians) or coffee (hubby does, but he likes 'American' coffee - espresso is too strong for him)...what do we do? You learn very quickly that soda is EXPENSIVE at restaurants!! We'd always order a litre of water and share...saves you lots of euros...I will tell a funny story - we were staying with some hosts in France and they offered us some hard apple cider (not sweet like we have) - so to be polite, we tried it - ugh - like drinking cough medicine...I think they thought our expressions were quite funny...you won't have any problem, but stick to water...I think in Rome were realized we were paying the equilivant of about $4-5 for a soda each, and about $3 for water between the 2 of us.
Thanks to everyone for the great feedback. I'll be sure to try an orange Fanta while I'm there. Also, it's good to have fair warning about the prices on soda in general. I might try to stick with water and save my money for good food.
I just got back last month from a trip to Italy and neither my daughter or I drink wine or coffee. Like others have mentioned, we also did the 1 liter of water while eating out or ordered sodas. She found out that she loves Fanta Orange soda and I remembered that I miss my American fountain sodas WITH ICE. I had forgotten about the rare fountain & ice combo since my last trip.
We did enjoy a lot of fantastic hot chocolates (it was cold!).
We also became addicted to blood orange juice. I mean ADDICTED. I've been on a quest to find it back here in the states.
I moved to Italy for 2 years not liking coffee, wine, OR tomatoes. I eased into coffee (I can't stand american drip coffee now) by having latte macchiato and made my way to espresso slowly....try it, I would definitely stop by San Eustachio (very close to the Pantheon) to get some top notch cafe...
Yes, sodas are expensive, I would only do thatif you were DYING for one....
In the morning, with your cornetto or brioche, I would DEFINITELY try the fruuit juices, almost anything you can think of....my faves are the strawberry juice and the
But I can't believe that nobody has mentioned the hot chocolate? If you are there in the winter, Eraclea has AMAZING varieties of hot chocolate (my fav is the white chocolate with lemon and pine nuts) and for summertime, they have great granitas (slushies?)....always great when you stop in a bar during your nightly stroll...
haha I actually meant the strawberry juice as well as the blood orange juice :)
Oh - tks for reminding - blood orange juice - yum! We can actually get that here at our grocery stores, but $$!
We have been to Italy several times and also do not drink alcohol or coffee. We have never had a problem with it. We just ask for water and we are fine. No waiter or restaurant has ever made us feel uncomfortable about not ordering alcohol or refusing the coffee. Even places that require you to order drinks will allow you to order a soda or bottled water. No worries!!
Brent,
You shouldn't have much trouble finding alternatives to wine or coffee. If you order water with meals, in the majority of cases you'll be served bottled water, which will either be normal (Acqua Naturale) or Carbonated (Acqua Gassata).
I rarely drink Tea, but most of the hotels I've stayed at have offered that with breakfast (not sure about restaurants). There are also orange or lemon flavoured soft drinks available, and as I recall Pellegrino is one brand name. I'm able to buy it at the local Italian Deli here, so I'll have a look to ensure that's the correct brand.
Happy travels!
Depending on where you go, some towns are very proud of the purity of their tap water and you may be offered that instead of bottled water. You can find yogurt drinks (kefir) at markets and at train station self-service kiosks.
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