{"id":265,"date":"2009-01-12T18:05:57","date_gmt":"2009-01-12T23:05:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/?p=265"},"modified":"2012-12-26T12:23:08","modified_gmt":"2012-12-26T17:23:08","slug":"my-favorite-rest-stop-in-italy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/my-favorite-rest-stop-in-italy","title":{"rendered":"My Favorite: Rest Stop In Italy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Our aim with these My Favorite:<\/strong> posts is to give our well-traveled Explorica employees a chance to share some of their favorite travel experiences with all of you.<\/p>\n

This week’s my favorite comes from our Client Services Manager Sarah Vessenes<\/strong>.\u00a0 Take it away, Sarah…<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

When driving on any Autostrada<\/a> (state highway) in Italy, you will inevitably come across an Autogrill<\/a>–the Italian version of what in America we consider the “rest” or “truck” stop.<\/p>\n

These little off-highway gems differ in just about every way from their American counterparts, and the differences are apparent the moment you pull over.<\/p>\n

On any given day at the Autogrill, you’re bound to come across Alfa Romeos<\/a>, Fiats<\/a>, Lancias<\/a>, a random Lamborghini<\/a> or Ferrari<\/a>, as well as more than a few of the Vespas<\/a>–those classic, modern scooters favored among the young and intrepid.<\/p>\n

Gawking at the cars is all well and good, but once inside the Autogrill, the real adventure begins.<\/p>\n

Autogrills<\/a> are a mix of rest stop, coffee shop, bar, restaurant, souvenir store…oh and gas station.\u00a0 As you first enter, you’ll invariably encounter a really diverse assortment of Italians bustling about the cafe, angling for their espressi<\/a>, soft drinks, orange juice, or even beer or wine. *<\/p>\n

* Make sure you go to the cashier first!\u00a0 Order your coffee or soda or sandwich, then bring your receipt to the counter for service. This is what real Italians do…<\/p>\n

After you\u2019ve loaded up on espresso, or had yourself a Mortadella sandwich<\/a> with a Fanta, make sure you visit the restroom before hitting the road. Don\u2019t forget your \u2018spicci\u2019–or change–as the restrooms at the Auto Grill usually come with a fee of 25-50 centessimi (cents) to use them.\u00a0 Then its back on the road to Roma.<\/p>\n

Everyone in Italy–from your local farmer, to your Autostrada truck driver, to your Milanese fashionista stops at the Autogrill, so it is a great way to get an authentic and amazing feel for the whole region.<\/p>\n

There is even a subculture that has grown around the Auto Grill.\u00a0 Just take a look on Facebook <\/a>and you\u2019ll see numerous groups devoted to the Autogrill. Which reminds me, I need to go join one.<\/p>\n

Ora basta!\u00a0 See you on the A1!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our aim with these My Favorite: posts is to give our well-traveled Explorica employees a chance to share some of their favorite travel experiences with all of you. This week’s my favorite comes from our Client Services Manager Sarah Vessenes.\u00a0 Take it away, Sarah… When driving on any Autostrada (state highway) in Italy, you will Read More …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"aside","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[173,63,172],"tags":[32,17,8],"class_list":["post-265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-aside","hentry","category-parents","category-students","category-teachers","tag-auto-grill","tag-italy","tag-my-favorite","post_format-post-format-aside"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=265"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":279,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265\/revisions\/279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}