ABSTRACT
First things first, let’s get a drink. In Italy the bar (bar or caffè) is a popular meeting place as well as being a place to drop in for a coffee, a glass of water on a hot day, a snack or an ice cream. Many bars have terraces where, in the summer, people sit outside chatting, reading the newspaper or watching everyone else go by. Of course there are bars of all sorts, from the very elegant to the simple and down to earth. Popular drinks are:
caffè a small very strong black coffee, also called espresso cappuccino a small, very strong, black coffee with frothy milk
added, often sprinkled with powdered chocolate vino, bianco o rosso wine, white or red acqua minerale, naturale o gassata (bottled) mineral water,
still or fizzy
tè, con latte o con limone tea, with milk or with lemon tè freddo iced tea, a refreshing drink in hot weather birra beer succo di frutta fruit juice succo di pera, di mela, di arancia pear, apple, orange juice spremuta di arancia, limone, pompelmo juice of a freshly
squeezed orange, lemon or grapefruit
You can also order un panino, a bread roll with a filling, for example ham, egg or mozzarella and tomato; un toast, a toasted ham and cheese sandwich; or, for the sweet-toothed, una pasta ‘a pastry’, or una brioche ‘a brioche’ or un gelato ‘an ice cream’.
