In Florence, a night out at a great restaurant tends to differ greatly from going out to eat in the U.S. Aside from the Italians’ separate courses (you order a pasta dish and a meat dish, if you’re hungry enough — meat doesn’t always come with a side), there are some other little-known ways an Italian restaurant experience varies from American.

So far in Florence, we’ve been lucky enough to be graced with copious amounts of free wine and liquor. It may be because we are young female Americans or Italians are just amazing people — I think it’s both. A small restaurant in an alley by il Duomo (domed church) gives bottles on bottles of free wine to student customers. We plan to return there soon.

If not free, wine is still very inexpensive in Florence. At the supermarket, good bottles of wine start around 3 euro ($4). Even in restaurants, a half-liter of wine can start around 7 euro ($9.33). Wine is everywhere, it’s inexpensive, and yes, it is delicious — red, white, dry or sweet.

The most un-American thing about Italian restaurants is as follows: YOU DO NOT TIP THE WAITER. There is often a service or seating fee included on a restaurant bill; even if not, tipping is considered inappropriate in Italy. I’ve become so accustomed to not figuring out a tip, I fear I may accidentally stiff many waiters once back in America.

Florentine waiters and waitresses bring out food as it’s prepared. This means once a dish is ready to be served, the customer gets it — there’s no balancing platters of eight meals at a time. Food is usually served very quickly, so I am rarely left waiting for long if my friends get served first.

Speaking of service, I’ve found that Florentine waiters and waitresses never visit the table to ask “Do you need a refill?” or “How’s everything tasting?” throughout the meal. It’s considered rude to interrupt the customers. Water often comes in a big pitcher and wine by the bottle so restaurant goers are kept happy without repetitive visits from the waiter.

Finally, the Florentine “condiments” are a little different from American. Where every table in any given American restaurant has salt, pepper and ketchup ready to use, Italian restaurant tables hold just oil and balsamic for the customary bread that comes before the meal. Extra pinches of salt aren’t needed here — things are cooked just as they need to be.

It’s been just three days since I arrived in Firenze, Italy, and I’ve already learned so much about the small bustling city, the mindblowing food and the kind locals. My plan is to get the most out of the amazing Florentine restaurants during my first week here before budgeting myself and preparing my own meals.

A few important things I’ve learned so far about bars, restaurants and food in Italy:

1. “American” bars are fun but not authentic. Directly across the street from my apartment is the Red Garter, an “American” bar that study abroad students frequent. It serves American food (burgers and the like) and has a fantastic karaoke/dance floor area, but my roommates and I have already agreed to avoid it for a while. Who wants to travel halfway across the world to be around a bunch of Americans eating French fries and drinking beer? Tonight, we explore Italian hotspots.

2. Bars are the best way to start the day. Yes, you read that right — but Italians call bars what we call coffee shops or cafes. Every morning I have started my day with a trip to a bar I pick at random — they’re everywhere! I order a drink and pastry at the counter, where I can stand and eat or sit down for a small fee. The best drink so far is a rich, foamy cappuccino from my first morning here. I sipped that while the bar played pumping club music, adorned in disco lights at 10 a.m. It was marvelous.

3. Sparkling water is a sneaky, nasty drink. Italians love their fizzy water, and I failed to read the label of a bottle I grabbed today at lunch. Not until I unscrewed the cap and heard the release of carbonation did I realize my mistake — and what a grave mistake it was. Sparkling water is a bitter drink that is too strange to my American tongue to enjoy, but I gulped it to get my euros worth. I’ll always read the label from now on!

4. A tiny macchiato is more than enough caffeine for 24 hours. I ordered this drink after a lunch of salad and chicken with balsamic sauce. The little mug of espresso and milk was like a kick to the taste buds — I sweetened it with an entire packed of sugar. That shot of caffeine had me shaking within a few hours; I’ll remember to order that when I’m dragging after a long night out, but only then!

5. Italian portion sizes rule. No one in this town is obese or unhealthy, despite the rich foods and overload of carbs, because their portions are perfect. A small cup of gelato is about 1/8 of a cup; such sizes don’t exist in American ice cream shops. At the gelateria we frequent, the largest size is equivalent to an American small. But you only need a tiny bit of the rich, filling and decadent gelato. Too much would defeat the luxury of the treat.

Keep reading my blog as I explore Florence, Italy and Europe one restaurant at a time.