British Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife, like many of their countrymen, are on vacation in Tuscany right now, lucky dogs. They're on a swank estate near Arezzo, an area I dearly love, called Villa Petrolo (in the photo).
The poor man got much attention from the press for not having tipped at a local cafe', after the young woman at the counter, who had too many customers, told him to take his own cappuccino to his table. This was perfectly justified. I never tipped in Italy in restaurants and bars; service is included. Sometimes one might round off the amount due, if paying in cash, but mostly as a matter of convenience. Also, customers normally are charged more if they sit down as opposed to eating and drinking at the counter- so a tip is superfluous.
Many foreigners, especially Americans who are used to tipping, don't know this or are insecure. Don't expect the Italians to be forthcoming with this information; it's obviously not in their interest to do so. The prices for eating and drinking are already high enough in Italy, don't inflate them any further.
