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Practical Italy

A guide to navigating the practical things in Italy such as bus stops, road signs, buying tickets and shopping. From a beautiful Lake Como perspective.

​And also from a Padua perspective.

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Understanding the vending machine

30/9/2014

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Picture
vending machine in Italian station
Nowadays it is not so much speech you need to understand as the writing on different signs and machines. In this case it is a vending machine selling drinks and snacks.

Da' il resto means it gives back change. Note how Da has an accent. This is to distinguish it from the word da meaning from.
PictureSlot to insert money into vending machine
The instructions here are to insert the coins in the appropriate place.
inserire - insert 
la moneta - coins
nell' - into
apposito - appropriate
spazio - space or place

Pictureinstructions on how to insert coins into Italian vending machine
The instructions here are telling you to lift the lever to push in the money. But it is said in a very convoluted way.
A moneta inserita - to the inserted money
alzare la leva - lift the lever



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Italian is full of little words that seem to appear from nowhere. In this case it is nell' which is a contraction of in and l'.
nell'apposito spazio = in l'apposito spazio
nella borsa = in la borsa
nel negozio = in il negozio

nello stadio = in lo stadio
negli alberghi = in gli alberghi
nei negozi = in i negozi
nelle strade = in le strade

You see this pattern recurring throughout Italian. It is quite straightforward once you get the hang of it.

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Not a very friendly welcome

9/9/2014

 
Picture
Not a bike-friendly gate! 
Vietato = Forbidden
appoggiare = to lean
biciclette = bicycles

Nor a bum-friendly one either!
Vietato = Forbidden
sedersi = to sit (it is a reflexive verb so has -si on the end)
sul muretto = on the wall 
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il muro is a wall. The ending -etto tells you that it is a small or low wall.
una birra = beer, una birretta is a small beer.

Escalator out of service

12/3/2014

 
Picture
Scala Mobile (literally moving stair) Escalator is momentarily non usable. We apologise for the inconvenience (Ci scusiamo per il disagio). Notice how many words are quite close to English. This is in the Underground (la Metropolitana) in Milan

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