• Unless you read and speak Italian well, it is best not to make telephone calls by yourself. Go to the main post office and write the town and number you want to call on a sheet of paper. Add con preavviso if you want to place a person-to-person call, or spese a carico del ricevente if you want to reverse the charges.
• Telephone booths are gray or red. Public telephones are found in most bars.
• To ask directions to a public telephone, see p. 12.
• To use a public telephone, you buy a special card (una scheda telefonica, sold in bars, tobacco shops, telephone centers, and newsstands) or use coins. For local calls (chiamate urbane), insert coins or the scheda telefonica and wait for the dial tone before dialing the number. For long-distance calls (chiamate interurbane), use coins or the scheda telefonica.
• To call the United States, dial the country code 1, then the area code and number you want to call.
• If you use an international calling card, dial the access number on the back of the card. You will be prompted to dial the PIN number for the card, then the number you want to reach.
• The international calling card is the most convenient and least expensive way to make an international call. You can purchase it at telephone centers, which are found everywhere in Italy.
For the names of other countries, see p. 121.
