Annamaria on Living Italian

Because our tour group was quite small in Sorrento, we had time to sit and just talk with Annamaria, and learn more about the Italian culture and lifestyle, from a southern Italian's perspective.  It's important to note she is southern Italian, because just like the US, Italy is divided into regions with different lifestyles and attitudes.

Southern Italy, from roughly Rome south, lives a more laid-back lifestyle.  They work but they also like to enjoy life.  The northern Italians will say those in the south are lazy and don't want to work.  Annamaria said that is not true, that they do work hard but in the south they also enjoy life.  The typical schedule for a southern Italian is to arrive at work about 9:30am and work until 1pm.  Everything closes and people go home to have lunch with their families and take a siesta until about 4pm.  Everyone returns to work and they work until around 8:30pm.  If they are going out to dinner that evening, they return home to freshen up and change clothes, as Italian's love to dress up when they go out for dinner.  Typical dinner even on a week night would start around 9:30pm and could last until midnight.  This is why they don't start work until 9:30am each day!

In Rome our tour guide confirmed this view of southern Italians, positioning herself as a hard worker not of the southern lifestyle.  Likewise, here in Florence (where I am writing this post) a young waiter did the same.  In the northern Italian lifestyle they are more about making money, rising early and working late.  Sounds like the US!  In the north they still seem to eat later than Americans, but it may not be as pronounced.

Since we have been here, we have adopted the southern Italian schedule of eating dinner late, usually around 8pm.  That is practical for several reasons.  First, when we have been touring all day we are tired and a late afternoon nap fits in just right.  Second, the weather cools considerably once the sun goes down, and we can dress more warmly to be comfortable for the evening.  Finally, we miss a lot of the tourist traffic by eating later and in Sorrento we found ourselves eating with the locals.