I took the class in 2004 but that’s good info to know. Although I didn’t make the trip when I thought I would, one day I’d still like to visit Italy being that I’m a history buff and my two favorite periods of history are ancient Rome and the Renaissance.
The man who taught the class was an “older” gent so perhaps he was not so up on things. But the class was still a hoot. He was quite the character, a bit of a Renaissance himself. He grew up poor to a widowed mother during the war in a town near Naples but came to America right after the war as a young man with nearly a dime in his pocket, worked his way through college and eventually became an engineer of some sort (he wouldn’t talk about his work) and worked for the US Army at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds in MD. He also sang opera and was a very accomplished painter – he brought some of his landscape paintings to class and they were surprisingly very, very good.
The class at the local CC was supposed to be about learning “conversational” Italian but we learned a lot about him and Italian culture and some very good and practical advice about traveling abroad, like how not to get robbed by the “m-fing” gypsies, how not to get ripped off by dishonest merchants, why visiting a religious shrine or museum in cut off shorts and a tank or halter top is in poor taste in any country but especially so in Italy, how not to stand out as a tourist, especially an American tourist and make yourself a target for pick pockets or even terrorists, where to find the best restaurants and bargains, like walk just a few blocks away from the popular tourist places and ask a local for a recommendation and of course how to ask them in Italian, what foods to eat and what foods not to eat (like buy a banana or some other fruit like an orange from a market where you peel the skin but avoid all others if you want to avoid the “runs” and spend the rest of your vacation on the sh!tter) and how to best use the rail systems, why not to rent a car because Italians are crazy drivers, and for the “ladies” – how to know when an Italian man is hitting on you and the proper authentic Italian “gesture” to make to him to tell him to “get lost and go….” – LOL! He was definitely not the PC type but the class was a whole lot of fun.
What he said as I recall, about tipping was that in many cases it wasn’t necessary or expected if the gratuity was included or if eating in a small family run eatery where you are being waited on by the owners. He suggested the US dollar coins because he claimed that they were highly “collectible” over there and among especially the older waiters, made for nice gifts to their children or grandchildren. But as you said, that may not be so much the case anymore.
One of the things you have to be very careful of is the children. They're used as decoys for the pickpockets. Also, pairs on scooters will steal purses from women as they drive by the sidewalks and public transit is a petri dish of tourist crime.
Italy is a beautiful Country and its people are like no other. It's true; take the time to go a little further from the touristy areas and you will have a much better experience and save money, too!