Traveling Logistics 101

Today is the day!

After lots of logistics, I am ready to go! To me, it always seems that there is some brilliant travel guru online that offers the exact insights you need, so long as you type a very specific question in the search bar.

I learned yesterday that there are many Bankomats (ATMS) in Bologna and around Italy that charge a very minimal fee for withdrawing euros. Compared with transaction offices or airport rates, it is much smarter to get extra cash from the Bankomat! However, the ATM caps you off at withdrawals of 250 euros, so if you need more cash, it's best to go to a bank!

The two most popular ATMS are Plus and Cirrus.

I also learned that in Italy (and all of Europe for that matter), money and number value is denoted differently than in the U.S. I am very glad this is something I read up on before arriving because seeing something like 1.250 on a price tag and attempting to pay for it (thinking it was dirt cheap) would have yielded some problems... 

When writing numbers, Italian uses periods where English words would use commas and vice versa! So $1,000 would look like 1.000 and 1.25% would look like 1,25%.

Also, when these numbers are spoken (unlike in English), the word virgola (comma) is used:

1,5%                          uno virgola cinque percento

It's actually quite fun familiarizing myself with the numerical system in Italian and learning as much as I can beforehand about the language.

This woman's blog has been quite helpful for tidbits about traveling around Italy:

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 I am excited to begin the travel experience today (though it's domestic) and to fly out of the country tomorrow to a place I have never been! Arrivederci for now!