Daily life
Codice fiscale
KO-dee-cheh fees-KA-leh
Your Italian tax code — free, same-day, and the precondition for a lease, a bank account, a SIM and a doctor.
Permesso di soggiorno
per-MES-so dee sod-JOR-no
The residence permit. Non-EU arrivals file for it within eight working days of entry, on paper, at a post office counter.
Locazione turistica breve
lo-ka-TSYO-neh too-RIS-tee-ka
Short tourist let. In Florence these now need a five-year comune authorisation and are blocked outright for new entrants in the historic centre.
Contratto per studenti
kon-TRAT-to per stoo-DEN-tee
The student tenancy — six to thirty-six months under the local territorial agreement. The most common legitimate contract in this city.
ZTL
dzeh-tee-EL-leh
The limited traffic zone covering almost the whole historic centre, camera-enforced and among the strictest in Italy.
Lungarno
loon-GAR-no
The embankment streets along the Arno. Addresses on them are prestigious, noisy and the first to flood-watch when the river rises.
Culture
Buchetta del vino
boo-KET-ta del VEE-no
A small arched wine window in a palazzo wall, used since the sixteenth century and revived recently. Genuinely Florentine and not a gimmick.
Food
Schiacciata
skyat-CHA-ta
The flat Tuscan bread that everything here is served in. Tuscan bread proper is unsalted, which surprises everyone once.
Social
Oltrarno
ol-TRAR-no
Literally 'beyond the Arno' — the south bank, still the artisan half of the city and where most residents would rather live.
Fiorentino, non toscano
fyo-ren-TEE-no
Florentines distinguish themselves sharply from Tuscans generally, and from Siena in particular. The rivalry is old and only half joking.
Emergency
112
uno uno due
The single European emergency number. Tuscany's unified answering centre — the largest in Italy — is in Florence itself.
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