Season 5, Episode 11 | Navigating the New Normal of Italian Travel

Episode summary

In this episode of the Bella Italy podcast, hosts Brian and Anthony reflect on the journey of the podcast, discussing the evolution of travel in Italy post-COVID, the impact of tourism restrictions, and the importance of planning trips to avoid overcrowding. They emphasize the need for travelers to explore off-the-beaten-path locations and understand local regulations, including ZTL zones and entry fees. The conversation also touches on the changing nature of tourist attractions and the significance of seasonal travel considerations.

Takeaways

• The Bella Italy podcast started as a way to share knowledge about traveling in Italy.

• Post-COVID travel has seen changes in tourist behavior and expectations.

• Tourism restrictions, such as entry fees, are becoming more common in popular destinations.

• Travelers should consider off-the-beaten-path locations to avoid crowds.

• ZTL zones in cities like Florence can lead to fines for unaware drivers.

• Local regulations are being implemented to manage tourism and preserve quality of life.

• Travel planning is essential to navigate the complexities of visiting Italy.

• Seasonal travel can greatly affect the experience, with shoulder seasons being ideal.

• Understanding local customs and regulations can enhance the travel experience.

• The podcast aims to provide valuable insights for travelers planning their trips to Italy.

Episode Transcript

0:00

Kicking Off the Episode: Hosts and Podcast Identity

Hey, guys, welcome back.

You're listening to the Bella Italy podcast.

0:16

Hey guys, we are back around again Anthony and Brian.

Brian and Anthony with the Bella Italy podcast.

0:23

Speaker 2

We are Live Today and I mean that in a different way than I usually do.

Tongue in cheek.

We're live.

I think you know it.

It's being broadcast.

We're streaming today.

Not We're not just recording, we're streaming.

0:40

Speaker 3

Yes, this is exciting because you used to say it was live and it was recording that we would give it a.

It is live for us, It's not live for people listening.

So it's semantics in front of a.

0:51

Speaker 2

Live.

0:51

Speaker 3

Audience, studio audience.

We have a laugh track too.

Yes, we have a laugh track to go behind it.

Just watch your latest Cheers episode to hear that.

All right?

Actually, Seinfeld had a laugh track too, which was sad because they didn't really need one.

1:05

Speaker 2

They didn't need it.

1:06

Speaker 3

Yeah, it's funny.

When you listen to it now, though, you're like, Dang it.

It's like I never realized how bad, how bad it is.

1:12

Speaker 2

Hey, I could do better than that.

Exactly.

1:28

Speaker 3

Oh man.

Well, we digress again.

Go.

1:30

Reflecting on the Podcast's Journey and Season 5 Highlights

Ahead here we.

1:30

Speaker 1

Are here we are again, guys, we we are finishing up season 5.

So if you're just joining us, I'm Brian the host of this Bella Italy podcast.

This is Anthony he's the CEO of Italy with Bella.

1:45

You can check us out online anytime Italy with bella.com.

Sign up for a free consultation with Anthony and his wife Denise, free no strings attached, just to find out more about what it would look like to go to Italy with Bella.

And so having said that, we are at the end of Season 5, we started out again as we do sometimes with kind of the mindset to travel well in Italy, what Italy is experiencing in terms of over tourism and.

2:20

Speaker 2

Places that that are famous but become saturated with with tourists.

2:26

Speaker 1

Then we went.

2:26

Speaker 2

Through the macro regions and you're saying, well, Mac, what are the macro regions of a great question.

We have an episode on that.

Go back a couple episodes and pick us up in the series where we're talking about the various macro regions of Italy.

2:43

Hopefully it's informative.

I was going to say entertaining.

I I'd rather be informative than entertaining, but if it's.

2:51

Speaker 1

Both then we I don't think.

2:53

Speaker 3

People want to be entertained when they're trying to plan a trip to Italy.

It was very nice, guys, but there was no meat on the bone, you know, just stop.

3:03

Speaker 2

And we finally, we finally did get down to you.

You had said the, the waters this has been boiling for a while.

It's time to throw in the pasta.

And we did and we got into some itineraries.

Hopefully all of that was helpful to you.

3:16

Teasing Future Content and Inviting Listener Questions

What we wanted to do today.

This came into mind.

It reminded me of when we started the podcast, which was, you know, actually this the whole evolution of of the the Bella Italy podcast started on your back porch with I think a glass of Scotch and just.

3:38

Speaker 3

Wow, you remember that all right.

3:39

Speaker 1

Talking about Italy and talking about, hey, what would it be like to actually share some of this knowledge, some of this information, not just from the business that Anthony has or from me living over here in Italy, but just, you know, our combined sense and others that we're collaborating.

3:59

What would it be like to bring that to the table and, and provide a, a free resource for people?

And so boom.

4:05

Speaker 2

That it was.

It was born on your back.

4:08

Speaker 3

Yes, it was.

Yes, it was.

We've come a long way, baby.

We've come a long.

4:12

Speaker 1

Way parts and all, even the the the ugly bits.

But here we are, several seasons into it.

We've got some fun things coming up.

I'll throw a teaser out out there next season.

Season 6 is going to be dealing with a lot of your questions that have come in and questions from our clients that have come over here to Italy with Bella and all of that has been food for fodder.

4:39

Speaker 2

Food for thought and fodder for food, however you want to say that.

And it's it's all kind of helped us to categorize.

4:48

Speaker 1

OK, here are the main questions that people have and it could be you listening to this podcast.

So you've got similar questions.

Hopefully, we're going to scratch that itch for you in the meantime before we get to the season because we're still scripting for that.

5:04

If you have a question, Anthony, what's our podcast e-mail that they could write?

5:11

Speaker 3

Podcast at Italy with bella.com.

5:15

Speaker 1

Perfect.

That's hard to mess up.

All right, podcast at Italy with bella.com.

Send us, send us your comments, your feedback questions, things that you would like to hear us talk about because we're going to deal with categorically a lot of the top questions that we get so.

5:32

Understanding Italy's Evolving Tourism Landscape Post-Pandemic

That said, this was taking me back.

I'm going to get back on this other trail that we were on to the very beginning and we were coming right out of COVID.

A lot of the conversations came up during COVID because we were in Tennessee, Middle Tennessee and there.

5:48

Speaker 3

Were no restrictions.

5:49

Speaker 2

Like there were over here in Italy, we weren't locked down.

And so, yeah, we got together for dinner and, and hung out and all of that.

And you know, after COVID, there were, there was the necessity and there isn't today so much.

But there was the necessity to do these briefings.

6:07

You remember those we we would come on to Facebook Live or YouTube and we would just talk about is Italy closed?

Is it open?

What's happening?

6:17

Speaker 3

Saying, yeah, exactly.

That was painful, man.

That was painful, yeah.

6:21

Speaker 2

It was and and that's where Italy with Bella would really cut its teeth, was in the daily.

6:28

Speaker 1

Updates and what's going on and what's happening now.

And so I thought it'd be fun because in the last year or two we've come through a lot of changes again, the over tourism, the saturation, people hanging out in the same spots.

6:45

You know what we've talked about before on different episodes?

The 1% of Italy that gets seen by tourists, which is Rome.

6:54

Speaker 2

And Venice and, you know, maybe one or two.

6:55

Speaker 1

Others, Florence, Those cities in particular have taken drastic measures to help curb not just how many people are coming in, but how to make it manageable for people that live there or for the taxes or for, you know, all of that.

7:12

And I'm sure they're trying to profit here and there from the fact that they're profiting from all of these tourists coming through.

But we thought, you know what, let's give a briefing just to talk about what's happened.

We also had big, big deal last year was Jubilee and we saw, you know, we didn't see the wave of increase that we thought we would see in tourism, at least not all at once.

7:34

But it was definitely a, a heavier current than usual because you had a lot of people coming over with the religious, you know, goals or purposes to be here and to be in certain areas around Italy during Jubilee.

So we had Jubilee and now the Olympics are are currently happening as we're recording this.

7:55

Now you're listening to this a month or two later, but as we're recording this, the Olympics are happening up in Milan, Cortina, all of that area.

And that's brought a lot of yeah, people thinking through well, what is tourism like in Italy?

8:09

Addressing Common Questions About Italy's Entry Fees and Crowds

So I'd like to start question to you Anthony, as, as we're going to dig into what are some of the restrictions?

How is it looking?

What are the, how are different cities reacting?

8:25

You know, what should people expect coming over here?

What are you getting any questions at all?

Let's say it like that on the client side that people that are planning their trips over here, are you getting questions from them about, well, I heard that there's now this fee or that fee or that there's this lockdown or you can't do that, there's restrictions.

8:47

Are we getting questions about these kinds of restrictions?

8:52

Speaker 3

Mostly the two biggest questions we get are the Venice entry fee for getting into Venice.

It's so minor that most you know if you're spending 10K on a it always shocks.

9:04

Speaker 2

Me.

What do you care about five year?

9:07

Speaker 3

Old, yeah, they will ask it because it's more about the process than the amount.

Like, how does that work?

It's amazing to me.

Like, you know, who's flipping out about a €5?

I mean, you know, it's just some people are paying that for Gelato, which is a highway robbery.

9:24

But yeah, 5, they're paying €5 entry fee.

That's one of the things they ask about.

They will ask about, you know, even the S, the what do you call it the visa to get in.

They, you know, as you and I have been you and I have been seeing this for years.

9:40

Yeah, exactly.

I was, I was somewhere the other night and the lady already booked her trip and I was just having conversations just to give her some, you know, hints and clues and stuff like that.

And she's like, well, when and when do I fill out this?

Actually it was a presentation that we were doing.

9:55

And when, when do I fill out this form?

I'm like, you can fill it out.

I don't know where you're getting it because it doesn't exist.

So you're getting a lot of this visa questions.

You're getting a lot of hey, just the crowd questions.

The biggest thing right, is it going to be crowded?

10:12

And what's happening is people are very dated on when the months are crowded.

So most people will call us up and they're like, yeah, we want to go in September because I'm reading everywhere that September is the time to go.

And I'm like, yeah, you're better off going in August.

10:28

You know, to be honest with you, because September is just as crowded as July and June, or even more, to be honest with you.

I'm so a lot of it's about crowds when the time to go still not about the and the crowds in general.

Am I going to enjoy it because I'm reading about overpopulated towns and cities that I don't want to have that experience, not about the little nuances like the fees and the visas, But it's also like, you know, am I going over there and I'm not going to be like, I'm at Disney World in crowds standing in line.

11:02

Practical Tips for Enjoying Italy Away from Tourist Hotspots

So I think that's the biggest question we're still getting.

11:04

Speaker 2

To put a pin right there.

11:06

Speaker 1

And hang something on it.

We we talk about the overcrowding and we talk about the, you know, the, the high traffic areas and to avoid, if possible, coming over and sit there.

And we get a lot of requests for September because, yeah, honestly, it's beautiful weather.

11:24

Usually it's some of the best weather you're going to find in Italy.

11:28

Speaker 2

But this is a reason.

11:31

Speaker 1

This is one of the motivations to actually do what we advise on this podcast.

Come over in September.

That's fine, but look off the grid.

Go somewhere where the crowds aren't.

Let us help you plan that trip away from this, the big, you know, metropolitan areas where there's so much traffic you're just not going to be able to enjoy that's.

11:56

Speaker 2

That's something I I think.

11:58

Speaker 1

And.

11:58

Speaker 2

You know, if we were to analyze the language used on this podcast, one of the things that we come back to time and again is how to help you enjoy your trip.

You're spending lots of money.

You've planned a long time in advance.

12:13

You've been waiting for this forever.

You're stressed out.

You get over here, you're tired.

You're you're just ready to enjoy and relax and have fun.

12:21

Speaker 1

But then there's the crowds or the things that happen in Italy.

And, and so, you know, we're, we're saying it's such a big challenge to actually enjoy your, your vacation.

No matter where you go, you know there's always unexpected things.

12:35

Speaker 3

You did mention COVID, right?

And you mentioned like there's a massive shift as we all know anyone that went through COVID, everyone that was stuck in the house and not in Tennessee, but all over the country in the world.

But what happens is, is this an impression that people who are expert travelers that it's the same?

12:54

No, it's not the same.

So perfect example that you'll get that same person.

Well, my friend goes to Amalfi every September.

Well, what was last time while they were there before COVID?

But they're, you know, they, they know Amalfi.

I'm like, oh, Amalfi's not the same.

I went in Amalfi in September before COVID.

13:11

I would never go to Amalfi in September if I could avoid it because it's so crowded.

You know, a lot of matter of fact, my son who was in Amalfi 2 years before that, he was like, oh, I'm in Sorrento.

It's not bad.

I went to post Eaton.

It wasn't bad at night, weekends were tough.

13:26

But the last time he was there in September, he'd never go back.

It was just, it was just like I had to get out of there was like 2 hours and was like I had to leave.

So I think a lot of times people don't realize it was a shift and it was a change in the months, in the timing and the crowds in Italy itself.

13:43

Navigating Modern Travel Trends and Discovering Hidden Gems

Yeah, and I, I think a lot of people sitting at home dreaming of travel during COVID that didn't, that didn't help.

They couldn't, they couldn't wait to get out and to start traveling again.

And then you had.

You really did have a.

13:56

Speaker 1

Boom and a transition from, let's say, the the Rick Steves era of travel to Tik Tokers and Instagramers and influencers telling you where to go, what to do.

14:07

Speaker 2

We had the blog era in between, but you know, we're past all that now and we're so far advanced now.

AI is designing our trips, but it's telling people to go to the same places that are overcrowded and and are just completely saturated.

14:23

You're not going to enjoy.

And so I know you got to take it off of your bucket list.

And that's actually what we started Season 5 talking about how to get beyond the bucket list.

Go back and listen to that episode.

Hopefully we'll convince you at least to add other eggs into your basket, not just the one place you got to go get a bigger bus.

14:46

Speaker 3

Get a bigger bucket, you know what I mean?

Or bigger list.

14:49

Speaker 2

But yeah, I mean, you know.

14:50

Speaker 1

Positano and Amalfi are great examples.

You're on that Amalfi coast.

We, we push a lot of people either towards Sorrento or coming down from Salerno and the Cilento coast.

Chilento this this area has just it's amazing.

15:08

It is.

It's not as developed and so there isn't as much traffic, but you're going to.

15:14

Speaker 2

You're in the same water, it's just a little further down the.

15:17

Speaker 3

About an hour.

15:18

Speaker 1

South, Yeah, exactly.

And so, you know, we're, we're saying, hey, look, there are some good options in the area that maybe you spend most of your time in a low traffic area.

15:29

Speaker 2

And you, if you got to go do it, you got to go do it.

Do it.

15:32

Speaker 1

You know, and that's a perfect thing, right?

15:34

Speaker 3

Yeah, you're mentioning that.

The problem is, no matter how much I knock on that person's head, Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding, they see that picture.

They heard it from a friend.

So it's really, really difficult.

So it has to come down to timing.

Sometimes you show the picture of Chilento, or you show the picture of the Italian Riviera or the Adriatic, and then they compare it to Amalfi.

15:57

Yes, Amalfi is unique.

So you can't get that picture out of your head.

So if you can't get the picture out of your head, let's plan it differently.

You know, let's plan a neighborhood or a street in Amalfi Coast.

Let's plan a different month.

That's the thing you have to get away from and people don't realize that.

16:12

They think, you know, it's the same as it was before COVID.

It's not it's it's craziness.

It's absolutely it's like they're they're basically they they're seeing the eagles for the last time and they can't miss it and they have to get there.

You know what I mean?

So you know what I mean.

So I don't know.

16:27

So I don't think a breakfast, but you know that, You know what I mean.

Ain't gonna be around too much longer, alright?

Right.

16:34

Speaker 2

So, OK, so to to kind of reset just to give us a 30,000.

16:38

Speaker 1

Foot.

16:39

How Italy Manages Over-Tourism with Local Rules and Fees

View.

16:41

Speaker 1

You know, if you're scared about the restrictions, if that is in your thinking, Italy is not restricting tourism on a on a broad.

16:51

Speaker 2

Sense there are these micro hot pockets where hot pocket where things are things are hot, you know, and they're they're popping and so you got so much traffic coming through that they're looking at means whether we're talking at the Trevi Fountain or Venice in general or there's these.

17:10

Speaker 1

Little micro areas where Italy has recognized we've got to do something to regulate, manage the situation, hopefully slow it down a little bit to manageable levels because it hasn't been, it's been out of hand, it's been out of control and you know, people taking baths in the Trevi foul.

17:29

Speaker 2

As they have since Roman times, but it's just getting.

17:32

Speaker 1

It's getting crazy.

It's just getting really crazy.

17:35

Speaker 3

No, I think, I think the problem is you are dealing with Italy and they throw a lot of stuff against the wall, but the throw is so far that they talk about it and then it's eight years later before the implement it or the implement and implement it wrong.

This is, I love Italy, we love Italy, we love our country, we love everything about it.

17:53

But even when they do talk about like the Venice thing, all right, we're going to do 5.5 euro now it's going to be 10.

It didn't do anything.

It just made some money in their pockets.

And then they're like, all right, we're going to add a little more city tax.

But how does that deter people from going by adding a, a euro extra a day for city tax?

18:10

You know, so I don't get it.

It's more or less they should have one of those things where they have a clicker as you walk through the train station, Click, click, click, click.

All right, you're #1 million today.

You have to turn around and get back on the train.

Yeah, that's the best way to do it.

18:26

All right, all right, 4-4 people are getting on the train or four people can go back.

You know what I mean?

Like, you know, it's like when you go to a club, you know, that's, that's the only way I say it works, but go ahead.

18:36

Speaker 2

Yeah.

18:37

Speaker 1

Yeah.

And you know what we're saying is that a lot of these policies were implemented focused on the crowd control side preserve, you know, I mentioned Trevi, I know it don't write us hate mail or Khalifka.

I know it's not around since Roman times.

18:53

I'm just being.

18:53

Speaker 2

General, but anyway preservation.

18:57

Speaker 3

Of I was going to jump on you for that, by the way, I was going to jump on you.

19:01

Speaker 2

Brian had an open Fact Check.

19:03

Speaker 3

You know, it's only about 300 years old in the era of.

19:07

Speaker 2

But no, I'm talking about.

19:08

Speaker 1

Preserving these, these, you know, sites, some of them sacred, some of them secular, but the, you know, the preservation of these monuments and the attractions they're, they're looking at how do they manage that?

There's also the local quality of life.

There's also, you know, people, clients being ripped off by, by certain avenues that are not regulated as as well as they should be.

19:33

There's a, you know, we, we talked about this in, in Florence, I think a season ago that Florence was putting the restrictions on like Airbnb.

Because what happens a lot of these places that are kind of B&B or apartments for rent or, you know, vacation spaces, they get bought up by out of country conglomerates.

19:58

And then they, they may have somebody local who's like running things.

But you know, there's, there's very little checks and controls.

And then, you know, you're, as you come over here to Italy and you stay in any lodging, OK, if you're in a hotel or BNB or apartment, whatever, any lodging, you're staying there as a guest.

20:17

You have to register with the local municipality.

You know, 100% of the time this is handled through the reception desk at the hotel or your host or whatever.

Well, you know, these folks were.

Weren't even showing up to welcome guests into the apartments.

And so there's there was just this, there were no, the checks and, and, and everything happening, checks and balances were not happening.

20:40

And so there's that regulation coming in in order to try to manage the situation.

So just to give a little, why is all this happening?

20:51

Speaker 3

Yeah, I think what I think what happens is, is the Italians overall know that their bread is buttered by tourism, right?

But there has to be a way to organize it better to make sure it's benefiting the city.

21:07

Like how much is a benefit if you got a company, ABC company buying up from Germany, buying up 300 apartments and there are no character resin chairs, you know, self entry, you know, it, it doesn't benefit the, the, the, them, there's a city and a local, right?

21:26

It doesn't.

And so I, I, these things are needed, you know, there really are.

And it's sad because, you know, even like our, our partner Lucia in Venice, she's a local Venetian.

She's a rarity did this, you know, most of those houses, you know, and places are Dutch, German, Chinese.

21:45

They're you know, she's a local.

She can't for two things.

She can't afford it, right?

Very difficult to afford, but everyone's buying it up.

So it's the biggest thing I would say if I'm Italian is I want to keep that, that story I had about my city or the, OR that vision I had in my city.

22:03

And I don't want it to change.

And now it's, you know, now it's Disney World or it's, it looks like any other city in Europe, but just has canals, you know what I mean?

So that kind of, it kind of sucks, you know, So I understand where you're coming from.

You need to be honest with you.

I would charge €200 a day for someone that comes in.

22:20

I would.

And if you really want to see it and you're the kind of person that's going to respect it or, you know, not jump in the river wasn't.

22:27

Speaker 1

It a lady, kind of.

22:28

Speaker 3

Swimming.

It was a lady swimming in the canal last year, right?

Like dove in with a cap and was swimming in the canals, I mean.

22:35

Demystifying Day Tripper Fees, City Taxes, and Passport Checks

They've been doing that since Roman times.

22:40

Speaker 3

The Phoenicians.

22:42

Speaker 2

Phoenicians, that's where they got the name, No.

So if you're, if you're wondering about what, what is Anthony talking about there?

There are entry fees then, you know, because you've got these, you got these huge, you know, motor buses that come in 60 people on a bus or you've got the, the big cruise ships that are coming in and offloading hundreds and thousands of people a day in these places.

23:06

So how do you manage that?

So they they invented this day tripper access fee for.

23:12

Speaker 1

Peak dates it's €5 if you pay in advance and you fill out your form.

It's 10 year old.

If you're last minute, you know as you're getting into your.

23:22

Speaker 2

Accommodation, yeah.

And it applies primarily to non overnight visitors.

And in fact, if you're staying there, you can get a waiver and you have to do all it's extra paperwork, but they're trying.

23:35

Speaker 3

To fight for five euro?

Why bother doing the waiver?

Standing at the desk at the hotel, taking that waiver paper, bringing it to the guy.

I do an hour to get my €5 Sir.

I fill in my papers.

23:50

Could I have my euro?

23:53

Speaker 2

That, you know, overnight guests have typically been exempt from that, but they still pay a city tax.

City tax is this other thing that a lot of Americans don't anticipate happening here.

But if you're in a hotel, a lot of that happens automatically and it's put into your bill if you're.

24:08

Speaker 1

Staying in a boutique or AB and B, you know, other situations it could be something that you would pay in cash or it could come as a separate charge, etcetera.

24:19

Speaker 2

But all all of.

24:20

Speaker 1

These things, you know, you begin to learn how Italy works and you know, just like we said a few minutes ago about having to register with the local municipality, this normal and you know, a lot of Americans go.

24:33

Speaker 2

Why did they ask me for my passport?

I didn't want to show anybody.

And then he took my passport in the backroom and I don't know what he did with it.

Why?

24:40

Speaker 1

I'm.

24:40

Speaker 2

Sure it wasn't anything lewd or indecent?

Probably just photocopying it and sending.

24:45

Speaker 3

Some butter on it and chewing on it.

No, and I hate to.

Is that how is that how our clients sound?

Let me do it, my baby.

Wait, wait.

Our clients do not sound like that.

It's someone else.

24:56

Speaker 2

'S client people on YouTube, it's the people.

24:58

Speaker 3

On YouTube, that's what it is.

24:59

Speaker 2

If you're watching this on YouTube, it's.

25:01

Speaker 3

Good recovery.

Not our YouTube, someone else.

25:14

Speaker 2

Not somebody elses.

25:15

Speaker 3

Channel Well, it's funny about Venice, bro.

It's so we get calls all the time from cruise people.

So some sometimes we get calls and the customers already doing a cruise and then I'll say, hey, can you help us during the cruise, before the cruise, after the cruise, because they want a real experience.

25:31

You're not going to get that on a cruise ship.

Sorry, you're not.

But they do these cruises.

And so they're like, yeah, we're going to be in Venice.

And I'm like, let's look at that.

OK, You're not in Venice.

You're about an hour, 15 minutes South of it and a little town called Ravenna.

And so, oh, really?

25:47

I'm like, yes, you're going to be in Ravenna because they but the the Venetians or the, you know, the town of Venice, the city of Venice, they said, we don't want any boats coming.

So now what's happening to let from Ravenna?

But they're like getting them off from Ravenna and then they're getting on these 70 buses and they're going up to Venice.

26:04

Speaker 2

And then we're going to charge them five year old when they're coming through the door.

26:07

Speaker 3

Exactly, exactly.

But they're still going to Venice.

They're still getting the same crowds.

They should have put them down like in Pescada or something.

So it was a little farther down the road, you know, But you know, so but yeah, so it's just they're trying everything.

26:22

Speaker 1

That's one of the the different sets of restrictions or regulations management.

26:29

The Challenges of Securing Tickets for Popular Italian Attractions

Rome is a is another example.

Things that even cropped up before then during Jubilee, you know, tourist taxes for accommodations are, are kind of tiered by the category of hotels.

So it could be a little bit different in one place or another.

26:46

You've got, you know, let's talk about get away from hotels for a second for museums or churches or place attractions that you would go to, you know, the Colosseum or the Vatican.

These are going to be areas where now they have very serious timed entries.

27:08

They're trying again just to regulate.

It's a pain in the butt.

Some of our, our guides have said I'm, I'm sick of all of this, you know, BS and, and I, I don't want to wait in the lines and I don't want to, you know, and, and then so they, they had all the skip the line stuff, just like.

27:24

Speaker 2

It's it's the same thing that happened at Disney, right?

27:26

Speaker 1

You got your fast pass you.

27:28

Speaker 2

Know, but then everybody's in the fast pass lane and nobody's in the normal lane because they thought everyone.

27:34

Speaker 3

'S running clever.

Everyone's running through the Coliseum now.

It's crazy.

It's not, believe me, it's worse than that.

So it's happening with.

27:43

Speaker 1

Yeah.

27:43

Speaker 3

Go ahead.

No, what's happening is, is it's sad because so people understand we are not Tooting our horn, but we deal with locals, right?

And I mean locals when we do, when we talk to our guides, they're local guides.

They don't have two 253,000 guides might be a team of seven people.

28:04

We like that and that's how it's easier to deal with.

The problem is they have a lot a tough time buying tickets and skip the line tickets.

It's like a Taylor Swift concert.

Some of what happens is you've heard of StubHub, you've heard well, think about the tour companies like Viator.

Get your guide.

28:20

They're buying them in thousand ticket 2000 ticket blocks.

So in my guide, who's, you know, local and you know, they're not doing 40 people in an umbrella.

We're doing your family and that's it.

They, they have to go out and try to find tickets and, and haggle and go to these websites and it's craziness, right?

28:39

That's not regulated.

But what we're seeing is the crowds are so much and it's almost like Thunderdome, you know, to get these, I'm using references from the 80s again.

So.

So you got the references.

28:52

Speaker 2

Gibson or was that?

28:54

Speaker 3

Which one's Tina turning?

Is that the one I'm thinking of?

I'm so so I'm thinking of, you know, this is how it's changed so much.

You know, it's such a business and it's not about the Coliseum.

It's not about it's, it's now it's a business where it's, you know, it's not about the tourism.

29:12

It's about we're going to buy all these tickets and screw the screw the small people, right.

But that's the one thing I see that's really frustrating.

It's you're right.

So now they're trying to come up with different ways ID's.

You got to make sure you have, but that's always been pretty much locked in.

29:27

But ID and checking is really difficult.

They'll they'll match it.

If your name is off a little bit, they don't let you in, you know what I mean?

It's crazy stuff.

29:35

Understanding Rules, Fines, and Proper Etiquette in Italy

Strict.

Yeah, I was in.

29:37

Speaker 3

Very, very strict.

29:38

Speaker 1

Just a month or two ago and then Bologna another month ago, we did, you know, the little walk up the tower kind of thing.

We we got there early and tried to get in 15 minutes early.

There was.

29:50

Speaker 2

Nobody in line.

They would not let us in.

I mean they are strict.

29:56

Speaker 1

They're going to check.

29:57

Speaker 2

Everything and you know, it's funny, we used to complain about Italy not being regulated, organized, organized, and it feels like the gulag and it's gone to the other extreme.

30:13

Hopefully we'll end up somewhere in the in the middle, but you can see why they're trying to to do.

30:18

Speaker 1

This you know, the the just managing the crowds again around the Trevi Fountain, for example.

30:24

Speaker 2

Has been a feat.

It has been a monumental feat, as as grand as the Trevi Fountain in order to just manage the crowds.

Because Italy was not, you know, Rome in particular was not made for huge crowds.

30:39

The streets aren't that way.

30:40

Speaker 1

That's a big city.

The big attractions weren't.

30:43

Speaker 2

Big attractions.

They were just another monument, you know?

30:47

Speaker 3

And a perfect example, a perfect example in this, the Pantheon, Pantheon.

I've gone to the pantheon, I don't know 100 times.

And I remember in 2009 my son was, I forget how old my son was.

He might have been 2120, My, my oldest son.

31:03

And I'm like, hey, let's go and show you the pantheon.

No word of a lie, walked into the Pantheon.

Me and him laid on the ground, looked at the you know, the hole in the ceiling.

31:10

Speaker 2

There, right, he laid on the ground.

31:13

Speaker 3

There was no one in there dude.

31:14

Speaker 2

Yeah, yeah, yeah. 10:00 in the morning.

You could actually do that back then.

31:17

Speaker 3

No one, no one in the place.

It was crazy.

So I'm like, there's no one here.

I don't know why.

No, they've.

31:23

Speaker 2

Been laying on the ground since Roman time.

31:26

Speaker 3

So but it's, but it's an architectural wonder of the world and no one and no one, it was in there, right.

And then I go back, you know, I go back all the time, but I go back like what?

My wife, we were there in February for the month.

February.

Mind you, there was a line for an hour outside of this place and I'm like it.

31:45

Speaker 2

Should be low tide.

It should be.

31:47

Speaker 1

And I'm low traffic.

31:49

Speaker 3

Yeah, I was like shocked me.

And it was know what turned it that way?

It's because they started charging €5 to go see it.

Once they started charging the euro, it was like, whoa, this.

31:59

Speaker 2

Must be a.

31:59

Speaker 3

Boring.

I got to go see that.

No, but same.

32:04

Speaker 2

I mean, but you get you get traffic in the news feeds and whatever when there's some, you know, five dollar €5 fee for something, Oh my gosh, people are outraged.

But I mean, it starts popping up in everybody's feed, then everybody has to go do it.

32:20

That's how it.

32:20

Speaker 3

Works well.

The other thing with traffic I remember.

So I'm telling little anecdotal stories, guys, just to tell you how things have changed, right?

My wife would go to the local little to little Prosciuttaria right down the road from the Trevi Fountain.

We'd carve up some meats and cheeses, get a bottle of wine, and we'd sit on the Trevi fountain and I had enough room car.

32:41

Speaker 2

You were one of the violators.

32:43

Speaker 3

That they had to create and you could back then you could.

So I would sit there, I'd open up the bag and I would cut a my, we'd have a little sandwich or a little glass of wine.

And we had enough room, literally to have stuff on the side of us.

32:55

Speaker 2

No, you know what I mean.

32:57

Speaker 3

Don't even think about it, you know what I mean?

You can't eat near it, you can't look at it, you can't film.

33:03

Speaker 2

Crew can't get that kind of access anymore.

33:06

Speaker 3

I'm not as crazy.

And then you have to go up on the staging.

Now I don't even go near it.

I've, you know, I've seen it so many times, I hate to say it, you know, I look back at it fondly, you know, because I was able to enjoy it the way it should be enjoyed, you know, And it's even my friend who lived at the Trevi Fountain, his house looked at it.

33:24

He goes into these people.

It's so crowded.

He goes, I used to swim in it when the hot weather and me and my friends are all be playing.

No one cared about it back in the 40s and 50s, you know, So it was, it was just, it's amazing.

It's still beautiful, it's still great, but it's so much has changed in regard.

33:40

I mean, the Trevi Fountain guys is beautiful, but the hassle, the crowds and the way to see it now it it's, it's taken away so much.

It really has.

It's sad, but it's not fun.

You know, it's it's really difficult to enjoy it the way it used to be.

But I'm sorry, I didn't mean to put a damper.

33:56

Speaker 2

On this.

33:57

Speaker 1

Podcast You know, nowadays there are fines for everything you just mentioned that used to be commonplace and every day the locals did it, visitors did it.

You know, nowadays there are fines for sitting on monuments, eating on historic steps.

34:13

I mean, I, you know, we used to eat on the Duomo steps all the time.

Now it's it's, oh, you can't, you know, you're, you're being disrespectful and.

34:22

Speaker 2

And I'm thinking they've been doing this since Roman for.

34:25

Speaker 3

400 years.

34:27

Speaker 2

Nobody.

At least a renaissance.

34:28

Speaker 3

A renaissance?

Yeah, exactly.

34:31

Speaker 2

Nobody thought it was disrespectful, but you know, people abuse and tourists come in and they carve out things and, and they take it home with them or you know, they're, they're, they're being obnoxious and.

34:42

Speaker 1

Obviously.

34:43

Speaker 3

Sad it.

34:44

Speaker 1

Creates it creates the necessity one bad scene.

34:48

Speaker 3

Spoils the whole Don bunch.

34:50

Speaker 1

There you go.

34:50

Speaker 3

Sing it, Bry, Sing it.

No, But even in Florence, when you get a sandwich in Florence on Vianeri, where all the Pursuit 3 is and the sandwiches are, you can't even sit on the ground.

They don't like sitting anymore, you know what I mean?

They they clear it up long, you know?

Yeah.

And, you know, obviously I feel like one of those old guys talking about how good my music was in my day.

35:09

You know, music sucks.

But that's it was different back in that day.

It was more enjoyable.

But there's still cities and towns that have the great sandwiches that have the history that are no one's going to, you know, And that's going back to what?

35:23

Speaker 2

We said and there aren't the same restrictions and.

35:25

Speaker 1

Fines and you know, some of this is even seasonal.

They, they hype it up, you know, and it becomes enforced, let's say more in the summer.

35:34

Speaker 2

You know, Italy's great like that.

We have, we have so many rules over here and you have to, you have to understand when the rules are going to be enforced and when they're not.

And that's something that only a local could really unpack.

But.

35:47

Speaker 1

It's like a.

35:47

Speaker 3

Sunday.

It's like Sunday when you know when to speed and not worry about the police because all the cops are at their mom's house eating right.

You don't have to worry about police in a little town because they're not working their mom's house.

36:00

Speaker 2

Grandma is getting lost.

36:05

Speaker 1

You know, another thing that people get shocked by, or don't expect at least, is a proper dress code being enforced at certain religious sites.

We just had a client text us that's over here.

We're in February right now as we're recording this, and they were surprised that they couldn't take in their backpack to a particular site that they were an attraction that they were visiting.

36:32

And you know, these rules, it's, it's like trying to hit a moving target.

I I I say it's like trying to hit.

36:39

Speaker 2

You know stage robbers from a moving Stagecoach.

You know it.

You've got, you've got these two, you're moving, they're moving and you're trying to hit.

36:50

Speaker 1

A target that's always in motion and it.

36:52

Speaker 2

Is it's tough.

36:54

Speaker 1

To nail it down when these things are going to be enforced and when they're not and they're inventing some of these things on the fly, it's almost impossible to know what to expect.

But generally, you're going to have some kind of dress code or dress restrictions, especially in religious sites.

37:13

And when there are crowds, you should expect that you're not going to be able to take in some large bag with you.

Why?

Because so many people have abused it.

They'll take in their luggage and suitcases and, you know, these big backpacks.

And so they had to just kind of where do we draw the line kind of thing and decide, yeah.

37:32

But that's another thing that people don't always expect.

And so, you know, you want to have that in mind.

37:40

Essential Advice for Navigating Limited Traffic Zones and Avoiding Fines

And I know we're going to talk about this.

The next one's great about, you know, traffic zones and stuff.

37:45

Speaker 1

I love pain in the butt.

I tell you since since.

37:50

Speaker 2

I don't know about Roman times, I I can only get so much out.

37:53

Speaker 3

I had my horse and chariot and my wenches, I'll tell you.

37:57

Speaker 2

I'd come into town on my horse and they.

38:01

Speaker 3

My Turkey leg and my whip.

38:07

Speaker 2

But yeah, OK, ZT.

38:08

Speaker 1

LZTL is a zona limitato.

This is a limited traffic zone nowadays it.

38:20

Speaker 2

Used to not mean.

38:21

Speaker 1

So much you'd have the the white sign with a red circle outline saying you cannot go into this area except for, you know, they might have a little list underneath times of day or who's exempt and all of this.

38:38

Obviously the tourist who's driving and is stressed and is trying to find their destination and they just want to get in or what do you know, do it or whatever.

They're not paying attention.

And it used to be that you could get away with that.

Then about 20 years ago, I started seeing fines when I would visit certain places and wasn't paying attention.

38:58

Nowadays they've got the Tele cameras.

They, they've got you on camera.

It's all automated.

The, the community, the, the local community.

They're they're making bank over these stupid tourists.

39:11

Speaker 2

Who don't know how to read the sign?

So do yourself a favor.

We always say do yourself a favor.

Go to.

39:16

Speaker 1

Italy with Bella, do yourself a favor and if you're going to drive a car over here, you really do need to brush up on just some basic traffic signs, OK?

And and expect there to be areas that you should not and cannot legally go into.

39:33

You're going to receive a fine through your rental car agency and they're going to tack on.

I just got one not too long ago from a trip in the summer, so we're talking 6-8 months later.

39:46

Speaker 3

Are you expensing that, Brian?

39:52

Speaker 2

He's called me.

I didn't talk about that, but I fessed up here.

I expensed it.

Anthony is like, what's his chart from Brian?

Where is he at now?

40:03

Speaker 1

No, but you know it.

It comes in.

And So what happens nowadays is your your rental car agency actually handles that from the community.

It comes into them, they track down who the renter of the car was and they send you that.

40:20

Speaker 2

But then they also are going to tack on their fee on top of what, the community fee?

40:26

Speaker 1

Is.

40:27

Speaker 2

For all the work that they did to find you and serve you with your with your fine.

So do yourself a favor.

Just look at, look at some.

40:37

Speaker 1

You know online tutorials.

40:40

Speaker 2

Before you, there's.

40:40

Speaker 3

Some general rules.

There are some general rules.

If there's a wall around the city, don't go in the wall, you know, because once you're in there, you're done.

You know what I mean?

I mean, you're really probably you're going to see a ZTL and you're like, all right, do I back up?

Wait, it's a one way.

I can't back up, so I have to go through the Piazza while people are eating and running, you know what I mean?

40:59

And giving you the finger and giving one of these and you know you're coming down the.

41:03

Speaker 2

Spanish Steps like you're in a Bond film.

41:06

Speaker 3

But I got a great like I've never.

I've driven into Florence a lot and ironically, I've never gotten a ticket for the ZTL.

There's a lot of ZTL areas in Florence.

Florence is not an easy city to drive in.

It's not hard for traffic.

It's just frustrating.

41:22

Your GPS doesn't work, you know, you miss the building and then you can't back up and get all the way around.

It's 25 minutes later to get back to that building.

So I mean, here's a story.

So I'm never going to take up a ZTL in Florence, but I use this Hertz rental car place outside of Florence city center about 3 miles out, come off the highway straight in, Hertz is on the right.

41:46

I pull it up.

I've gotten 6 tickets, right?

I do not know.

I do not know why they saying I was speeding and I go under the speed limit, right?

There's no ZTL and I can't fight it so.

42:01

Speaker 1

You thought you were free?

Yeah.

42:03

Speaker 3

I'm like, so there is these things like ZTL is great.

And I'm not trying to get off on a little tangent, but you'll be shocked what you get tickets for because I've got tickets.

I'm like, why am I getting?

So I don't rent from that place anymore.

I don't go near that.

I don't drive off that exit.

There's no way.

42:18

And then I talked to the Hertz guy.

He goes, yeah, everyone gets a ticket.

And he did.

He can't explain it and he's like, it's just it.

I think it's.

42:24

Speaker 2

Speed trap the the little cameras broke.

42:28

Speaker 3

Exactly.

So he's.

42:29

Speaker 2

Taking a picture of everybody.

42:30

Speaker 3

Every.

Every single person gets a ticket.

Every.

42:33

Speaker 2

Cop that goes by gets a ticket.

42:37

Speaker 3

And The funny thing about tickets, The funny thing about tickets, and you know, because they have my license here, you might not get a ticket for nine months, a year and a half.

And you're all like, what the hell is this?

I haven't been to Italy.

42:49

Speaker 2

There, I don't even remember that.

42:52

Speaker 3

Exactly.

Did I go down that street?

Did I go to Florence?

You know, yeah, it's crazy, you know, and and you know, and then you then you're going to try to figure out how to pay it, you know how to customers call us all the time.

They e-mail me all the time.

How do I pay this?

You know?

Well, I'm going to be in Italy.

I'm like, yeah, have fun with that.

43:08

Go to.

Go to Florence.

Go to the Post.

43:09

Speaker 2

Office.

Worse if you're actually here.

43:12

Speaker 3

Just mailing it and cross your fingers they get it, you know what I mean?

And I've mailed tickets and, and, and they, they, they keep sending me the bill and someone signed off on the FedEx envelope and they still don't give me credit.

It's brutal.

You know, that's another story for another time.

43:27

Go.

43:27

Speaker 1

Ahead, right, right.

And, and a lot of times they're it, they're nowadays it's a lot a little bit more automated.

You use your Visa card or whatever online and you know it's a little more fast track.

43:38

Speaker 2

They realized they were losing money from all the phase that they were setting up.

People couldn't pay but.

43:45

Speaker 1

Another thing to think about connected with this is especially if you are going to be at a B&B, at a boutique, at a hotel, at a apartment, whatever, whoever your host is, find out ahead of time if you're driving in your now, we advocate a lot for what's called an NCC Nolejo con coducente.

44:07

That's the rented car with a driver.

These are usually a little bit nicer than a than a taxi, let's say.

And we usually advocate folks to go that route.

If you want to drive your own car, which is awesome, go for it.

44:24

Reach out ahead of time to wherever you're going to be staying and say, hey, clue me in on the parking situation.

Is there parking on site?

Is it private?

Is it public along the streets?

Where's the best place?

What, what is the circulation like in your area?

44:42

Is it ZTL?

Is it whatever you know in for get get some information before you go and face that so you know what you're getting into before you get into it.

So.

44:53

Speaker 3

Anyway, last, so it's good about us on that.

Yeah, One more thing, it's a good thing about us is once again, I'm not pushing Bella.

But the good thing about us is we go to these towns.

So when we build a trip for a client, we have all the Google map points of the parking areas that I park in.

45:09

Or someone from the Bella team like yourself or me or someone else.

So it's nice when you hey Anthony, they, they gave us a trip to not Naples, God forbid, you know, but like Florence, right?

I know the parking garage outside of city center, it's an 8 minute walk to city.

So there's a lot of that that, you know, you guys can do too if you build your own trip.

45:29

But when we build a trip, we actually put that in there because we know we don't want you getting tickets.

We don't want you in a ZTL.

We want.

45:34

Speaker 2

You to walk out of the tickets.

45:36

Speaker 3

We've done all the work, we spent all the money Exactly.

So I think that's something you need to look at if you're building your own trip.

What's the Google map points to?

Parking garages and parking lots, that's all.

45:46

Speaker 1

Yeah, for goodness sake, guys, make new mistakes.

Don't make the same old mistakes that we've already made if we have the information for you.

45:54

Speaker 2

Let us just share what not to do in a certain area and you can go make your own mistakes.

You know, it's kind of like talking to your teenagers.

46:01

Speaker 3

Don't make the same mistakes.

46:02

Speaker 2

Your mom and dad, dude, you know, this is, I mean, this is, this is.

46:06

Speaker 3

Just like marriage, you know, I say the same thing, you know, don't do it.

Don't do it two or three times if you don't have to.

Ryan and I are experts and.

46:16

Speaker 2

We are through that.

46:19

Speaker 3

All right, I digress.

Get.

46:20

Speaker 2

Me all all choked up today.

All this off the cuff stuff I didn't mean to share over sharing.

46:28

Speaker 3

Penalty edit.

46:43

Maximizing Your Trip: Shoulder Seasons, AI Pitfalls, and Off-Season Benefits

All right.

Well, just wrapping up.

I mean, we're going to come back to just some basics again.

We may have one more episode guys in this season where we're thinking about AQ and a type episode that actually might tease up the sixth season where we're going to get into a lot of your questions and try to be very specific.

47:02

Here was just some general things about things that have been changing and I hope you found that helpful.

As we as we close out today, though, just some things to remember about, you know, you've got your shoulder seasons, which are, you know, April, May, some into June.

47:19

July gets hot, August is hot and then it kind of kicks the cycle kicks back over in September until mid-october.

Then boats stop going out, flights get harder to find.

47:36

And you, you're getting into the yeah.

But you know, we've learned and, and we have clients over here right now in Italy and we're still in February.

We have folks enjoying their trips in Rome and blah, blah, blah.

And all these places and the crowds are lower, restrictions are not as heavy or they're not enforced.

47:57

And, and they're enjoying.

That's the whole point.

I, I really hope that's what people take home from this fifth season is if I do these things and just watch out, I'm going to enjoy so much more.

48:09

Speaker 3

Even Rome, Rome 65° today it's February.

I mean, we, it's people don't realize, you know, get outside of that thinking guys, be strategic.

Think about first of all, Brian mentioned shoulder season.

Shoulder seasons are really getting shorter and shorter it seems.

48:26

But planning, guys, we talked about this even though if you're looking at a shoulder scene, give me an example.

It's February, 3rd week of February right now.

We're looking at customers for September, October.

It's getting difficult for lodging in September right now.

And it's, you know, Brian, do the math.

48:43

Nine months, seven months out, you know, whatever it is right Or into yeah, seven months out, eight months out and it's difficult even to find some lodging, you know so and we're.

48:53

Speaker 1

We're already building for next year.

If you have to go in a certain period, we're already planning and building for 2027.

You know, the shoulder seasons were born out of Americans in particular coming over in the summertime when the kids were out of school.

49:11

So you had like, you know, June and July, then kids go back in August.

And so those outside of that were the shoulders.

But those shoulders are shrinking, and people are actually building outside of even that.

And so they're coming over even before Easter, which is not typically tourism season.

49:32

You know, I'm traveling around in Italy right now.

There's a lot of places that we would like to go.

And we, we, you know, we inspect on site.

This is what we do.

We don't tell you to do something we haven't actually tried.

We don't tell you to eat at a place that we haven't eaten at.

And we don't, you know, all all of that.

49:48

And there are a lot of places still closed, especially in some of these smaller towns because they're built on those shoulder seasons, you know, So you got to, you got to know, you got to be smart.

You got to be wise and clever a little bit to know so when to come over.

But the these shoulder seasons, you can do it.

50:08

You need to plan way in advance and you need to get out of your certain micro areas that are saturated.

That's what season 5, I think has really tried to say is, you know, there's this famous triangle from Rome up to Venice down to let's say Bologna in that whole area, just largely Amelia Roman and then Tuscany and a little bit of Umbria.

50:31

You've, you've got this suave that is highly targeted by different, you know, algorithms and AI and your, your instagramers or whatever.

And if you can get out of that and into some areas that are less travelled off the beaten path, go up from Venice and stay in Trieste or Udine.

50:52

We, we did a whole podcast on that.

You're going to, you can come down and, and do your day trip if you need to, you know, take that off.

You're going to have so much better time and enjoy yourself if you're in these other places that we're trying to set up as a possible destination for you and.

51:12

Speaker 3

That's why we built the company, to be honest with you, is to have that experience be at the right time in real and in a lot of times, you know, we get people that obviously go with us, but they have this ChatGPT they found us on, but they have these trips built on these chat GBTS and they go like, yeah, we're going to go to a mafia in March.

51:32

What?

You know, we're going to go to Umbria because ChatGPT.

Well, it's not going to work.

You know, mafia's closed, you know, they don't have any boats, no ferries.

It's freezing, you know, it's raining.

They're painting the the decks, you know what I mean?

They're they're, you know, fixing things up.

That's.

51:46

Speaker 1

The, that's the, that's the season where you got all the scaffolding on the outside of these monuments and buildings because they're doing all the work getting ready for that next season.

So yeah, you've got to take that into consideration.

If you come in the offseason, you may not find it as pristine, the weather may not be as good, but here's the you know, you, you, it's all it's all about.

52:06

What are you willing to give or take, you know, the pros and cons and, and all of that.

And, and you know, for some people, this is the magic season right now and you, you hit gold.

52:16

Speaker 2

If you're in Rome, in in.

52:19

Speaker 3

February.

Big cities are great.

Yeah, big cities are great.

You know, because it's basically the locals more than the tourists.

So it's about planning.

If you're digging into the three major cities and not Amalfi, Rome, Florence, Venice, go in February, go in March, go in April, you know, Now if you're thinking about smaller towns like in the Umbria, Chilento, you know, even Pullia, you know, that's when you look at the, you know, the shoulder seasons, you know, that's what I would do.

52:44

Speaker 1

OK, awesome.

Well, hey guys, thank you for for listening.

I I think we've got one more episode for you before taking a pause and kind of resetting for the next season.

So be watching for that again.

53:03

If you're thinking about going to Italy, do yourself a favor, go to Italy with Bella, go to italy.com, sign up for a free consultation with Anthony and his wife Denise.

You won't be disappointed.

And in the meantime, if you've got questions, you got QS, we got A's.

53:22

Send those in podcast at italywithbella.com and we'd be happy to.

If we don't know, we're going to do some research and find out.

Ask our partners, ask our guides what's going on, put our fingers on the pulse and then report back to you so that you are well informed for your next trip over here to Italy.

53:41

Yeah.

53:42

Speaker 3

Yeah, we truly appreciate you listening.

Please, if you have the chance and you like what you hear, please obviously give us the feedback like Brian just said, but also please give us a five star review with some comments that would be really helpful so more people can know about our podcasts and understand what we do and how it benefits you guys.

53:59

If you want to head over to Italy, we'd love to hear from you.

54:02

Speaker 1

Awesome.

Love it.

Thank you, Sir.

It was great to talk to you.

Hope we get back on for just one more back here in the studio before taking a little bit of a break.

But then you're actually on the break.

You're actually coming over here to Italy and getting to do a little travel again, which I know you're itching to do.

54:18

You can't wait to.

54:20

Speaker 2

Get out been like.

54:20

Speaker 3

Three months, dude.

I'm dying over here.

54:22

Speaker 2

It's like you've been in lockdown.

54:24

Speaker 3

Exactly.

COVID all over again.

Yeah, Good, good, good call today.

Really had a lot of fun and look forward to hearing from you.

Ciao.

54:32

Speaker 1

All right, Ciao, Ciao, guys.

Bye.