What is the thing in Italian bathrooms?

For many amused American travelers, the answer often comes down to the humble bidet? the butt of many a joke. Bidets, a French invention, are essentially large sinks that users can squat over. Water from the tap is used to clean up after going to the toilet, taking the pressure off toilet paper to do all the hard work.



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The “second toilet” is the bidet. We Italians use it to clean our private parts: it is not a toilet, but it is something you use after the toilet. After defecating, we use the toilet paper to remove the solid parts and then we clean our butt with water and the appropriate soap.

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If you ask locals “Do you tip in Italy?”, they'll explain that while they sometimes leave a small tip, it's generally not necessary. In Italy, gratuity (or una mancia, pronounced oo-nah MAN-chah) is considered a bonus for exceptional service. And it's not often that you'll find a tip jar at a register.

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The short answer is yes. Drinking water from the tap in Italy is considered safe. Tap water in the major cities and towns around Italy is safe for consumption, and there are thousands of old-style water fountains dotted around cities, like Rome, where you can fill up water bottles.

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