Italy cell phone

If it is an unlocked quad-band phone, just picking up a SIM card would be cheap and easy.

Question : what do you NEED to do with a cell phone for 9 days? If you want to keep in touch with family and friends at home and/or be available for emergency messages, you can use your own phone as a WiFi device to send and receive emails -- most hotels provide WiFi connection.

I do find having a cell phone handy in Europe. Call hotel to advise of late arrival, restaurant reservations, etc

Agree with you, Sam, that a cell phone can be handy in Europe but the question is whether the OP has figured out what HE wants it for.
For us, with longer trips it's worth it to put our regular phone service on vacation hold (greatly reduced monthly service charge -- use only as WiFi devices) and use Eurobuzz phones (post-paid) for limited local calls including the "where are you" ones when we get separated. But not worth suggesting for 9 days.

Thanks all. We do need phone, as calls back to USA are a must for us. I don't know if our phones are "unlocked" or quad...but I will look into that. Interested in that Eurobuzz that was mentioned to.