Reply #6: Try to get a good primer on Italian local customs and etiquette. This is a MUST.

[Selatius]

Above all. Try to be respectful. You don't want to become the stereotype of the "ugly american" over there that's grown popular in the last 6 years. As an aside, enjoy yourself; use your brain; and be safe. If you have a language guidebook, try to use simple phrases to show Italians you are trying to be respectful. Most will understand, and if they know English, they will help you out. If you have a personal tour guide/translator, all the better.

As an aside, I had a classmate whose friend when to Italy around the time the US invaded Iraq. She said the anti-US sentiment was thick in the air at the time. There were mass demonstrations at the time. It was not that fun as a result, but things should be better now 4 years into the war now that the initial shock of the invasion has passed.