What month Italian cities are ghost towns and how Italians can spot American tourists are just some topics we'll cover in this ITALIAN, FOR SURE episode about how Italians (vs Americans) travel.

Recorded at the WeRoad headquarters in Milan right before Catrin steps away for maternity leave, host Catrin Skaperdas sits down with WeRoad's Brand Marketing Director Margherita Galluzzo to pull back the curtain on the quirks, traditions, and psychology behind Italian vacation habits. They have an entertaining, candid conversation about Italian travel culture inclusive of:

• Why Italian cities turn into complete ghost towns in August
• The mandatory 20+ vacation days in Italy vs. the American hustle to earn time off
• Italy's obsession with "making the bridge" around bank holidays
• How Italians approach itineraries with flexibility while Americans plan every minute
• Generational shifts in how Italians travel
• The difference between a casual "gita" and a true "vacanza"
• The stereotypes Italians use to spot American tourists in Italy
• Why booking a solo trip feels intimidating to Italians
• The pain of Italians trying to find decent espresso outside of Italy
• Tourist-trap food menus in Italy

Chapters:

00:00 Intro

4:57 How vacation days work in Italy

9:35 Why you shouldn’t visit Italian cities in August

13:59 Most popular times of year that Italians travel

14:34 How Italians treat bank holidays

16:55 How Italians vs Americans approach trip planning

21:37 Italian travel habits across the generations

23:49 “Vacanza” vs “Gita”

25:09 How Italians can spot American tourists in Italy

27:00 Top travel destination for Italians

28:42 What WeRoad offers travelers

30:07 Solo travel: Italians vs Americans

35:33 Food habits of Italians while traveling

39:16 Tourist traps in Italy

42:17 Outro

WeRoad creates groups of an average of 11 people between the ages of 18 and 49 to set off and discover the world. To date, over 300,000 travelers have shared incredible adventures with WeRoad in more than 150 destinations.

Discover WeRoad trips and travel itineraries at www.weroad.com

This interview is available to watch on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube, and available to listen-only everywhere else you can get podcasts.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

From committing the Italian sin of cutting pasta to understanding that the concept of time is different in various parts of the world, this episode of ITALIAN, FOR SURE is a hilarious riot of cultural clashes between the UK and Italy.

Recorded right before Catrin’s trip to Sicily with her parents, comedian Tino Giaccotto and host Catrin Skaperdas pull back the curtain on Tino's hilarious life between the UK and Italy.

They have a zero filter, maximum laughs conversation about Italian culture inclusive of:

• Roasting British dining chains that pretend to be Italian
• Unpacking why Italians eat with surgical precision
• Stories about being mistaken for a delivery driver
• Why cutting pasta is a tragedy
• The realities of visiting your home country
• Language learners being talked to like toddlers
• Awkward small talk comparisons
• The "game" of “Are They Gay or Italian?”
• How "Italian time" tests Catrin’s patience
• Tino's ritualistic first stop the second he touches down in Sicily

Chapters:

00:00 Intro

03:19 The realities of going home for people living abroad

04:27 How time works in Italy vs the UK

08:59 Italians vs Americans eating

12:29 Are they gay or are they Italian?

16:58 Tipping culture in the UK vs Italy

22:54 Using slang terms with foreigners

27:17 People assuming Tino was a delivery person

28:46 Small talk in the UK vs Italy

30:30 Outro

Connect with Tino on Instagram: www.instagram.com/tinogiaccotto_comedian

This interview is available to watch on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube, and available to listen-only everywhere else you can get podcasts.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Making the highest-quality Italian rice, from soil mapping techniques and aging processes to pioneering blockchain technology in modern agriculture, is something Meracinque co-founder Silvia Tovo knows all about.

In this episode of ITALIAN, FOR SURE, host Catrin Skaperdas sits down with Silvia for a fun, deep dive into the world of Italian food, specifically rice culture - including choosing the correct rice for risotto, the real rice-dish star of Milanese cuisine (which isn't what most people think), and how food culture takes shape across Italy.

Together, they talk about:

• Verona, Mantova and Italian food culture
• How Silvia built Meracinque with her four sisters
• How Italian rice and its specific varieties are different than other rices around the world
• The rice she produces, carnaroli rice ("the king of rice"), and how it differs from the arborio variety
• Popular rice dishes around Italy and when in the year you eat them
• The breakdown of how rice is planted, harvested, dried, and aged for a full year, and why aging makes all the difference in quality
• What it’s like working with four sisters
• The adversity Silvia and her sisters face being a women owned business, especially in this sector
• What it’s like selling rice to different markets
• The pros and cons of running a food business in Italy

Chapters

02:01 Intro

03:08 Verona, Montava, and Italian Food Culture

06:28 The birth story of Meracinque

08:43 Characteristics of rice: carnaroli vs arborio

12:09 Different rice dishes around Italy

14:57 What rice dishes Italians eat and when they eat them throughout the year

16:08 Rice cultivation process start to finish

21:08 Pros and cons of running a family-owned business

23:58 What it’s like to be a women-owned business in this industry

28:22 Selling Italian rice outside of Italy

35:27 Difficulties of running a business in Italy

40:56 Outro

More about Meracinque:

Founded in 2016, MeraCinque is an innovative agricultural company run entirely by Silvia and her four sisters—Margherita, Benedetta, Anna, and Maria Vittoria. Inheriting a deep passion for the land from their agronomist father, the sisters united to produce an exceptional, 100% sustainable Carnaroli Classico rice. Their name tells their story: "Mera" for meraviglia (wonder), their lifelong family nickname, and "Cinque" representing the five sisters bringing a new balance and harmony to Italy's traditional farming industry.

Learn more about Meracinque on their website: https://www.meracinque.com/

This interview is available to watch on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube, and available to listen-only everywhere else you can get podcasts.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.