The Conversational Italian for Travelerstextbook begins each chapter with a dialogue from a story about the character Caterina, an American girl who travels to Italy to visit her relatives. As the story continues from one chapter to the next, we learn Italian, and about Italy, in an engaging way through Caterina’s experiences.
After Caterina arrives in Italy, she stays with her Italian cousin Pietro and his family in Milan for a while and adapts to Italian life and the Italian language. Then, in the last unit of the book, they all go on a summer vacation together. Caterina and the family stay at a typical northern Italian lake resort in the town of Stresa on Lago Maggiore.
For those travelers who are adventurous enough to try out their Italian on their own visit to Italy, read on for some phrases that will come in handy when ordering at an Italian restaurant. Get started by speaking with the waiter. A delicious meal is soon to follow!
To listen to the dialogue from Chapter 16, when Caterina and her Italian family arrive at an Italian restaurant and begin their wonderful meal together, go to the interactive audio dialogues on our website at learntravelitalian.com/interactive.html. —Kathryn Occhipinti
Italian restaurant at the Villa d’Este hotel on Lago Como ready for lunch.
Below are some expressions that are commonly used when dining in a restaurant.
The io (I) and noi (we) forms of the verbs potere (to be able to/can) and volere (to want) are important to know in this situation, because requests are usually made for oneself or for the entire table.
We revisit the verb “Può?” for a polite way to say, “Could you?” and add “Posso?” for “May I…?” and “Possiamo?” for “May we…?” to our list of polite phrases to use when making a request.
To the popular “io vorrei…” for “I would like,” we add the conditional plural form, “Noi vorremmo…” for “We would like…” See Chapter 18 of ourConversational Italian for Travelers textbookfor the full conjugation of these verbs in the conditional tense.
Posso…
May I…
Possiamo…
May we…
…sederci vicino alla finestra?
…sit by the window?
…sederci a un’altro tavolo?
…sit at another table?
…avere il menù?
…see (have) the menu?
Qual’è lo speciale oggi/stasera?
What is the special today/this evening?
Qual’è il piatto del giorno?
What is the dish of the day? (English = special of the day)
Che cosa ha scelto/avete scelto?
What have you/you all chosen?
Vorrei…
I would like…
Vorremmo…
We would like…
…come antipasto, l’insalata mista.
…for the antipasto, mixed salad.
…come primo, le tagliatelle alla bolognese.
…for the first course, tagliatelle with Bolognese meat sauce.
Conversational Italian for Travelers Just the Important Phrases (with Restaurant Vocabulary and Idiomatic Expressions) is YOUR traveling companion in Italy! All the Italian phrases you need to know to enjoy your trip to Italy are right here and fit right into your pocket or purse.
Kathryn Occhipinti, MD, is the author of the Conversational Italian for Travelersseries of books and a teacher of Italian for travelers to Italy in the Peoria and Chicago area. “Everything you need to know to enjoy your visit to Italy!”
Visitlearntravelitalian.com/download.html to purchase/download Conversational Italian for Travelers and find more interesting facts and helpful hints about getting around Italy!Learn how to buy train tickets online, how to make international and local telephone calls, and how to decipher Italian coffee names and restaurant menus, all while gaining the basic understanding of Italian that you will need to know to communicate easily and effectively while in Italy. —From the staff at Stella Lucente, LLC
The Conversational Italian for Travelers textbook begins each chapter with a dialogue from a story about the character Caterina, an American girl who travels to Italy to visit her relatives. As the story continues from one chapter to the next, we learn Italian, and about Italy, in an engaging way through Caterina’s experiences.
One of the first things Caterina must do after her plane lands in Italy at Milan’s Malpensa Airport is find her way to the city of Milan. You can learn about how to do this at learntravelitalian.com/interactive.html from one of the many free, interactive dialogues on this site.
But what if we want to begin our Italian adventure in Venice and land instead at the Marco Polo Airport on mainland Italy just outside that magical city of islands? Read on and find out all about transportation to and along the waterways of Venice!
If you would like more images of how to navigate the waterways of Venice, visit our Pinterest site at Stella Lucente Italian. —Kathryn Occhipinti
Venice Alilaguna transport boat from the airport on the mainland to the islands of Venice
The Marco Polo Airport serves the city of Venice and is located on the mainland, near the town of Mestre, just across the lagoon. The major island of Venice(Venezia) is connected by a bridge to the mainland and is served by a local train station and a large bus station. A city bus or taxi can be taken over this bridge directly into Venice from the airport. You can also take a taxi ride to the train station in the nearby town of Mestre on the mainland. The trains in Mestre connect with towns on the mainland and to the Santa Lucia station in Venice.
Unique to Venice are the water ferry and water taxi. Take the yellow Alilaguna water ferry to Saint Mark’s Square in the main island of Venice or to the beaches of the island of Lido from the Marco Polo Airport by following the covered walkway from the arrivals desk to the nearby dock. The walk takes about 10 minutes, so it may be necessary to hire a taxi if you have a lot of baggage or have difficulty walking. Tickets can be purchased at the arrivals desk in the airport or at the dock once you arrive and are about 15€ one way. The trip takes 1–1½ hours, depending on the number of stops made along the route. Also along the same dock are smaller, private water taxi boats that can take travelers directly to their destination.
Once in Venice proper, purchase an imob.venezia card for the length of your stay (4 days, 7 days, or longer) for the public ACTV water bus system to get to all of the major sites on the islands. This card can also be used on the local bus system on the Lido Island. Private water taxis are also available at most docks on all the islands of Venice. And of course, for a leisurely ride through the smaller canals, try the classic sleek black gondola piloted by one oar by one of the trained gondolieri in their black-and-white striped uniforms!
Conversational Italian for Travelers Just the Important Phrases (with Restaurant Vocabulary and Idiomatic Expressions) is YOUR traveling companion in Italy! All the Italian phrases you need to know to enjoy your trip to Italy are right here and fit right into your pocket or purse.
Kathryn Occhipinti, MD, is the author of the Conversational Italian for Travelersseries of books and a teacher of Italian for travelers to Italy in the Peoria and Chicago area. “Everything you need to know to enjoy your visit to Italy!”
Visitlearntravelitalian.com/download.html to purchase/download Conversational Italian for Travelers and find more interesting facts and helpful hints about getting around Italy!Learn how to buy train tickets online, how to make international and local telephone calls, and how to decipher Italian coffee names and restaurant menus, all while gaining the basic understanding of Italian that you will need to know to communicate easily and effectively while in Italy. —From the staff at Stella Lucente, LLC
Venice: Arriving in Venice for Your Italian Adventure
