# Why Italy is no longer in the cards **URL:** \ **Category:** Macro Economic Trends and Risks\ **Created:** [August 20, 2023, 3:17am UTC](https://discussion.fool.com/t/why-italy-is-no-longer-in-the-cards/95633 "2023-08-20T03:17:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![OrmontUS](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/motleyfoolfree/user_avatar/discussion.fool.com/ormontus/32/3681_2.png) [@OrmontUS](https://discussion.fool.com/u/OrmontUS)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2023, 3:17am UTC](https://discussion.fool.com/t/why-italy-is-no-longer-in-the-cards/95633/1 "2023-08-20T03:17:52Z")
This evening, we tried a new (for us) Chinese restaurant. Without informing us the order was atypical, they charges an extra buck and a half for veggie fried rice instead of the meaty regular version. It is also the last time I will eat there. So they lost a potential repeat customer - but restaurants in tourist resorts are not risking as much if they stiff a transient customer. I just ran across this article: > **[$2 to cut a sandwich in half: The outrageous rip-offs targeting tourists in...](https://www.cnn.com/travel/outrageous-charges-targeting-tourists-in-italy/index.html)** > > Getting gouged is all part of the experience in tourist hot spots, but some Italy seems to be taking it to audacious new levels amid complaints Italians can no longer afford vacations at home. It starts with: An Italian holiday may be a priceless experience for those who have enjoyed all this country has to offer. But the summer of 2023 will go down as one of the priciest in history after a slew of price gouging scandals at cafes and restaurants that have affected foreign tourists and Italians alike. Take the couple charged 2 euros ($2.20) to cut their ham sandwich in half on the shores of Lake Como, or the young mother in the Roman seaside town of Ostia charged 2 euros to have her baby’s bottle heated in the microwave. And then goes on. A few years ago, I pledged never to vacation in Italy during the summer again. After many enjoyable trips there, the crowds were so massive and the temperature so oppressively hot that we saw every darn museum in Rome - because they were air conditioned. Global warming and increased international tourism has made many prime destination fall off the edge of the earth for us. Jeff ---
**Author:** ![jdc115](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/motleyfoolfree/user_avatar/discussion.fool.com/jdc115/32/1338_2.png) [@jdc115](https://discussion.fool.com/u/jdc115)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2023, 3:24am UTC](https://discussion.fool.com/t/why-italy-is-no-longer-in-the-cards/95633/2 "2023-08-20T03:24:54Z")
You can always come back through Singapore for some over priced beers, Jeff… Let us know ---
**Author:** ![Leap1](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/motleyfoolfree/user_avatar/discussion.fool.com/leap1/32/72176_2.png) [@Leap1](https://discussion.fool.com/u/Leap1)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2023, 6:19am UTC](https://discussion.fool.com/t/why-italy-is-no-longer-in-the-cards/95633/3 "2023-08-20T06:19:57Z")
@OrmontUS You will need to travel the EU now while you can do so with ease. Will U.S. citizens need visa for Europe in 2023? **Beginning in 2024, U.S. citizens will have to fill out an online travel authorization called ETIAS to enter most of Europe**.3 days ago > **[Overtourism in Europe's historic cities sparks backlash](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/25/overtourism-in-europe-historic-cities-sparks-backlash)** > > Angry protests from residents in popular areas force city hall officials to take action > **[Atlantic meridional overturning circulation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_meridional_overturning_circulation)** > > The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) is part of a global thermohaline circulation in the oceans and is the zonally integrated component of surface and deep currents in the Atlantic Ocean. It is characterized by a northward flow of warm, salty water in the upper layers of the Atlantic, and a southward flow of colder, deep waters. These "limbs" are linked by regions of overturning in the Nordic and Labrador Seas and the Southern Ocean, although the extent of overturning in the L... > **[Can a new EU law move people from planes to trains?](https://www.energymonitor.ai/transport/can-a-new-eu-law-move-people-from-planes-to-trains-multimodal-ticketing/)** > > Train options don’t show up on search engines. A new EU multimodal ticketing proposal due in September aims to change that. Eventually tourism is going to get very restricted by the EU. ---
**Author:** ![MarkR](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/motleyfoolfree/user_avatar/discussion.fool.com/markr/32/2011_2.png) [@MarkR](https://discussion.fool.com/u/MarkR)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2023, 7:33am UTC](https://discussion.fool.com/t/why-italy-is-no-longer-in-the-cards/95633/4 "2023-08-20T07:33:09Z")
> [@OrmontUS](#): > > It is also the last time I will eat there. I’m like that too! It is doubly insulting when their cost is going down (veggies instead of meat), and they still charge you an upcharge. And, not properly serving the customer is also grounds for “banning”, many years ago, my wife and I were at a favorite restaurant of ours, and the waiter came back and told my wife that “the chef refuses to cook your fish the way you want it” (she wanted her tuna cooked a little more than lightly seared because she didn’t like the raw tuna in the middle). She banned that place and we never went there again! Italy. Oh Italy. I love the country and have been there countless times over the years. One incident remains clear in my memory. We took a cab from Termini to our hotel near Piazza Navona, and the fare was under 10 euro and I told him “10” to include a tip. I handed the guy a large bill (a 100 or a 200 note) and he hands me change from a 20. I noticed right away and argued with him, and of course he feigned ignorance. I physically stood in the opening between the driver’s door and driver’s seat and didn’t let him enter his car until he gave me the correct change. The bill I handed him was literally still in his hand on top of his folded bills!!! Total chutzpah. Especially after I included a tip which isn’t particularly customary there. ---
**Author:** ![flyerboys](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/motleyfoolfree/user_avatar/discussion.fool.com/flyerboys/32/2123_2.png) [@flyerboys](https://discussion.fool.com/u/flyerboys)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2023, 4:34pm UTC](https://discussion.fool.com/t/why-italy-is-no-longer-in-the-cards/95633/5 "2023-08-20T16:34:49Z")
The best of Italy is 1. the furthest away from popular tourist destinations 2. usually the further north the more civilized, but the more south the richer the experience and the food. Sicily is wondrous beyond belief in the small neglected villages (the food!!!)(the vistas!!!)(the random generosity of hosts!), but you need the patience of all their bizarre saints. david fb ---
**Author:** ![OrmontUS](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/motleyfoolfree/user_avatar/discussion.fool.com/ormontus/32/3681_2.png) [@OrmontUS](https://discussion.fool.com/u/OrmontUS)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2023, 4:36pm UTC](https://discussion.fool.com/t/why-italy-is-no-longer-in-the-cards/95633/6 "2023-08-20T16:36:24Z")
> [@jdc115](#): > > You can always come back through Singapore for some over priced beers, Jeff… Let us know Be careful what you wish for 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![steve203](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/motleyfoolfree/user_avatar/discussion.fool.com/steve203/32/3302_2.png) [@steve203](https://discussion.fool.com/u/steve203)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2023, 7:42pm UTC](https://discussion.fool.com/t/why-italy-is-no-longer-in-the-cards/95633/7 "2023-08-20T19:42:30Z")
> [@OrmontUS](#): > > Be careful what you wish for 🙂 Sticks in my mind Jeff has formal clothes stashed in storage all over the world. No telling where he might pop up (immaculately dressed) next. Steve ---
**Author:** ![MarkR](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/motleyfoolfree/user_avatar/discussion.fool.com/markr/32/2011_2.png) [@MarkR](https://discussion.fool.com/u/MarkR)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2023, 7:52pm UTC](https://discussion.fool.com/t/why-italy-is-no-longer-in-the-cards/95633/8 "2023-08-20T19:52:51Z")
> [@flyerboys](#): > > but the more south the richer the experience and the food. This is VERY true. A few years (okay, decades) ago, I spend a few weeks in southern Italy. My wife and I and our 20 month old kid traipsed through the back alleys of Naples. Stayed in a small hotel 100 meters away from a funiculare. One evening while my wife was bathing the baby, I ran out, caught the funiculare immediately, rode up, ran out and bought some fresh pizza (among the best in the world is at capodimonte in Naples), ran back to funiculare, rode it down, and walked back to hotel. Pizza was still wonderfully warm when I got back and we ate. Naples is so “real” compared to Milan (mostly business) or even compared to Rome (mostly tourists) or Venice (a veritable tourist trap). We went to Ercolano and had a wonderful fish dinner with fresh salad that tasted as the veggies were just picked. We climbed Vesuvio (with our daughter on my back) and it started snowing up there! The south of Italy is really alive. > [@steve203](#): > > Sticks in my mind Jeff has formal clothes stashed in storage all over the world. No telling where he might pop up (immaculately dressed) next. My name is Bond, Jeff Bond. 😂 ---
**Author:** ![Neuromancer](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/motleyfoolfree/user_avatar/discussion.fool.com/neuromancer/32/4361_2.png) [@Neuromancer](https://discussion.fool.com/u/Neuromancer)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2023, 8:01pm UTC](https://discussion.fool.com/t/why-italy-is-no-longer-in-the-cards/95633/9 "2023-08-20T20:01:02Z")
> [@flyerboys](#): > > usually the further north the more civilized, but the more south the richer the experience and the food That might apply to the US also… ---
**Author:** ![Leap1](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/motleyfoolfree/user_avatar/discussion.fool.com/leap1/32/72176_2.png) [@Leap1](https://discussion.fool.com/u/Leap1)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2023, 2:06am UTC](https://discussion.fool.com/t/why-italy-is-no-longer-in-the-cards/95633/10 "2023-08-21T02:06:48Z")
> [@Neuromancer](#): > > That might apply to the US also… “shaken not stirred” The US was shaken and the place is a total mix.