Speaker 1: One of the things I love most about traveling in
Speaker 1: Italy and about traveling general, is getting to know a
Speaker 1: way of doing things that is completely different from how
Speaker 1: we do things at home. Why fly halfway around the
Speaker 1: world if everything is going to look and feel exactly
Speaker 1: like where you left. In today's travel update, I'm talking
Speaker 1: about buy Bella Fagua and a handful of specific dress
Speaker 1: codes you will find across Italy and why paying attention
Speaker 1: to them might save you are fine and a very
Speaker 1: awkward conversation with the CADABINNERI or a local police officer.
Speaker 1: Jao Tuti Benvenuti. I'm Katie, the founder of Untold Italy,
Speaker 1: here to help curious travelers like you plan trips to
Speaker 1: Italy that go well beyond the obvious list of sites.
Speaker 1: Italy is so much more than a checklist. It is
Speaker 1: a rich tapestry of history, culture, language, food, and of
Speaker 1: course those wonderful sites. But one of the things that
Speaker 1: perhaps should make it onto a checklist is how Italians
Speaker 1: dress and the cultural norms and thinking behind it. There
Speaker 1: is a real tradition behind this. So before we get
Speaker 1: onto some of these interesting and let recent finds, let
Speaker 1: me explain where it comes from fay bella for gurda,
Speaker 1: which is fada benefo gourda translates loosely to make a
Speaker 1: beautiful impression, and it is one of Italy's oldest social habits.
Speaker 1: The idea goes back centuries to the strict etiquette of
Speaker 1: the Renaissance courts and the formal decorum once expected around
Speaker 1: the Catholic Church, which is probably still a lot of
Speaker 1: it is still there today. It is stuck around because
Speaker 1: Italians still care very deeply about how they present themselves
Speaker 1: to the world. In practice, that means a press shirt,
Speaker 1: real jewelry, shoes that match the outfit, and that's even
Speaker 1: for a quick trip to the bakery. I remember when
Speaker 1: I lived in the UK and people would go to
Speaker 1: the shops in their pajamas. Italians would never. I love
Speaker 1: these contrasts. Bella for gooda is not vanity. It is
Speaker 1: a form of respect, both for yourself and for the
Speaker 1: people around you. For visitors, this shows up a set
Speaker 1: of very specific and sometimes enforceable rules, and three towns
Speaker 1: in particular have made headlines recently for that. So let's
Speaker 1: start in Venice and the Lagoon. City has cracked down
Speaker 1: hard on how people dress. Once they leave the beach.
Speaker 1: And this rule covers more ground than most visitors would expect,
Speaker 1: so walking around bear chested or in a swimsuit anywhere
Speaker 1: in the Historic Center can bring a fight of two
Speaker 1: hundred and fifty euros that includes the wider lagoon area,
Speaker 1: even if you are on a private boat. And I
Speaker 1: saw some travelers on Instagram who found this out the
Speaker 1: hard way after they went for a jog around the
Speaker 1: city without a shirt on. It is an easy mistake
Speaker 1: to make if you are used to running shirtless at home,
Speaker 1: but Invenice, save it for the Lido beach. And you
Speaker 1: know what, if you ask me, just put the shirt on. Guys.
Speaker 1: The Italian's got a ride. And there is Trebea, the
Speaker 1: cliff top town on Colubria's coast that locals call the
Speaker 1: Pearl of the Terrannian Sea. The mayor introduced an ordnance
Speaker 1: banning bare chests, swimwear and bear feet anywhere in the
Speaker 1: Historic Center, with this sole exception of the beach itself.
Speaker 1: Break it and you are looking and a fine somewhere
Speaker 1: between one hundred and twenty five and five hundred euros.
Speaker 1: So that gorgeous white sand beach is exactly where your
Speaker 1: bikini and your swimwear belongs, and nowhere else you can
Speaker 1: pack a light shirt and wrap dress in your beach
Speaker 1: bag for when it's time to leave for a perativu.
Speaker 1: And finally, the Chinquoteri. This one is not really about
Speaker 1: Bella Figura in the fashion sense. It's about safety, but
Speaker 1: it belongs on this list because it catches out so
Speaker 1: many travelers. The National park there has rules about what
Speaker 1: you can wear on its hiking trails between the five villages,
Speaker 1: and they don't like flip flops, thin sandals, or anything
Speaker 1: with a smooth sole. They band so fine, start at
Speaker 1: fifty euros and can climb as high as two thousand,
Speaker 1: five hundred euros. Park officials have been running spot checks
Speaker 1: on the trails to enforce it, and look, there's a
Speaker 1: really good reason for it. Those parts are really steep,
Speaker 1: they're narrow, and they're cutting to rock and mountain rescue
Speaker 1: teams were being called out constantly for people who had
Speaker 1: rolled an ankle or you know, had some minor injuries
Speaker 1: or sometimes major in the wrong shoes and that you know,
Speaker 1: that does cost a lot of money and it puts
Speaker 1: a lot of pressure on some already fragile infrastructure. So
Speaker 1: if you are walking between the villagers Rio Maggiore, Manarola, Carnelia,
Speaker 1: Venazza and monsters, so bring a proper closed shoe that's
Speaker 1: suitable for hiking with some grip on the sole. Now,
Speaker 1: there is a broader version of this that you will
Speaker 1: run into all over the country, and that is the
Speaker 1: church dress codes. So if you want to go into
Speaker 1: Saint Peter's in the Vatican or the Dworb in Milan
Speaker 1: with bare shoulders or knee showing you're really you're going
Speaker 1: to be turned away at the door. And so there's
Speaker 1: no fine, it's just you know, they don't allow it
Speaker 1: as it's not seen as very respectful. So it's worth
Speaker 1: keeping a light scarf or a cover up in your bag.
Speaker 1: So anytime you feel like ducking into a church and
Speaker 1: your hot and you just want to cover up, then
Speaker 1: you have something that will help you show that respect.
Speaker 1: Of course, none of this is about Italians or Italy
Speaker 1: trying to catch tourists at It really comes from the
Speaker 1: same place that Bella for Gurda does. It's a genuine
Speaker 1: pride in how a place looks and feels, and locals
Speaker 1: hope everyone passing through will treat their place with that
Speaker 1: same care. The Italians always appreciate anyone who makes an effort,
Speaker 1: even if you get it slightly wrong, so I'm always
Speaker 1: trying to improve on my Bella for gura. But sometimes
Speaker 1: they think there may be a strong genetic style factor
Speaker 1: helping them out. So here's the short version. Before you
Speaker 1: get ready to go to Italy, save this wimwear and
Speaker 1: bear chest for the beach itself, not the back to
Speaker 1: your hotel. Choose the real shoes for the Chinquaite trails,
Speaker 1: and keep a scarf handy for any church that you
Speaker 1: might want to wander into. This is the kind of
Speaker 1: cultural detail that really shows up in your trip planning.
Speaker 1: But as I said in the beginning, knowing and appreciating
Speaker 1: cultural differences is one of the most beautiful parts of traveling.
Speaker 1: After all, the world would be a pretty dull place
Speaker 1: if we all did things exactly the same way. Don't
Speaker 1: you think that's all for today's travel update, wan Bia,
Speaker 1: Joe and Chow Hanau