Water & Coffee (caffe), the other beverages

In an earlier post I discussed how wine is a common beverage for Italians.  Water and coffee deserve a mention as well.

As in Europe in general, the Italians drink bottled water primarily.  The exception was in Venice, because the people of Venice are vey proud of of their clean drinking water that is piped from the Alps.  You could drink the water from the public fountains, and many people (including us) filled their water bottles there.  But otherwise, it is bottled water everywhere.  So, at dinner you order a bottle of water with your meal. Bottled water comes in two forms, carbonated and not.  They call the carbonated water "with gas" and the un-carbonated either "still water" or "natural water".  

Coffee is generally available in three forms: americano, cappuccino, and espresso.  Americano is generally very strong and is served with hot milk available.  Using hot milk is superior to how we do it in the US as it helps keep the coffee hot as well.  We had many cappuccino's and they were generally available for breakfast.  That was a great way to start each day!  We will miss the regular cappuccino's!