Bars, bar prices, and drinking habits.....
Certainly different - although, depending on exactly where you're from, they're perhaps differently different?
I'll make my comparisons with England, and start - as it were - from the shop floor....
There Excise Duty (with the 20% VAT levied on it) on ordinary wine - for example - works out to £2.17 - or €2.50 - per 750ml bottle. When handing over £10 for a triple pack of Sainsbury's rosé, the Government gets the first £8.33 - which leaves just 97 pence for each one..... for the retailer, the botttle, the wine and transport from wherever.
Last time I checked Italy had no Duty system, and in shops etc only a final sales tax (IVA, Italy's VAT) of 20% is imposed on the nett price... which is one of the reasons why you'll see wine prices starting as low as maybe a Euro - and upwards!
The effect of that relatively low tax element often carries through to bar prices, with those for simple beers and wines being very similar to soft drinks, and even water... which does tend to make those accustomed to seeing a big difference assume that they're being ripped off for colas, sodas etc - when really it's everything that's expensive, or perhaps nothing?
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Typically, Italians don't drink a lot away from home (some would have you believe they hardly drink at all, but try counting the vineyards, distilleries, breweries etc!) and, if out with a few of them, you may well be gasping for a refill long before they've even started.
Bars' prices tend to reflect Italian behaviour - so, for the only 4 or 5 Euro they'll be spending, an Italian will get a glass of something or another in which they've little interest, nibbles of some sort to have with it (since drinking alcohol without eating is a no-no) and the use of a seat somewhere nice until such time as they decide to move on.....
The difference for the more enthusiatic toper is that - with a tariff based on the expectation of making only a single sale per customer - ordering a second round can be a relatively expensive business.... so it could make sense to seek out places more accustomed to foreign ways, where they've set their prices accordingly!
But - generally - the better or more attractive the view is, the dearer the bar will be.... rather like the way seat prices vary at a rounders' stadium?
Outside of a few places where more restrictive byelaws raise the age for consumption and/or purchase in public places (such as Milan, where since last July it's been 16 for both), there are few age restrictions on consumption and it's 16 and upwards for purchases..... although some also have further rules on strong spirits, as I recollect?
Another difference that may come as a surprise is that even quite young kids will visit cafes and bars without an accompanying adult, however the 'bar' - in the sense of a place aimed mainly or exclusively at serious drinking - isn't as common as in many other countries.
I'm sure there's more to be said on this one, but a late siesta is calling!
Peter