My God, How I Love Italy!

Il Vittoriano, Piazza Venezia, on the slope of the Capitoline Hill. Rome, Italy.

This country has a very special, inimitable and charming magic. With every visit, you leave a small part of your soul here and regret that you are forced to go away again. Why do I feel so sad leaving Italy for any other country? (OK, the Maldives is exception). Moreover, why wasn’t I born here?

Look at this picture! This is me beside a Roman citizen who is probably familiar to many of you. (Update: This is Marcus Tullius Cicero. The Cameron Gallery at Tsarskoe Selo, St. Petersburg, Russia.)

The Cameron Gallery, Tsarskoe Selo, Russia.

Don’t you think our profiles look very similar? Is it possible that my distant ancestors were Italians? Oh, my dear relatives, why in hell did you leave your motherland? Why did you go to the cold North or mysterious East? Didn’t you give any thought to your descendants? Did you not understand that you have sentenced me to a life NOT-IN-ITALY?!

The baia di Napoli, Italy.

There are plenty of good things in Italy, but its cuisine is a genuine God’s gift! Every time we fly to any European country via Rome, we eat at the airport at Fiumicino, Rome. We did it when we traveled to Provence, France. Do you want to hear about our most vivid gastronomic impression during the trip to Provence? It was the lasagna at Leonardo Da Vinci Airport in Fiumicino, Rome.

Classic Italian lasagna with ground beef, onion, Mozzarella, Ricotta, Parmesan cheeses, tomato sauce, and lasagna noodles.

Let’s take our trip to Spain, to the regions of Castile, La Mancha, Leon, Avila, and Madrid. What was our most vivid gastronomic impression? Guess? Yes, the lasagna in the Rome Fiumicino airport, and Mozzarella made from buffalo milk, again in Italy. What about the Spanish cuisine? It also has some wonderful meals, but all in all, it loses to Italy on all counts.

Caprese salad, Roma, Italy.

Melanzane alla Parmigiana in Italy.

Why is everything so yummy in Italy? Is it the sun? Spain is also a sunny country. Is it the warmth? You won’t freeze in Spain or Provence either. Italians are always relaxed and smiling. Is it a consequence of, or the reason for perfect food? But why do Spaniards always frown despite the brightly shining sun?! By the end of lunch in Fiumicino, the Italian waitress was like family—we laughed and joked, and even hugged farewell. Is such a scenario possible in Spain? No way! Moreover, there are no waitresses there, only waiters—frowning men of very advanced age. Why?

Burrata cheese. Pompei, Italy.
This is unique cheese—a fresh Mozzarella di Bufala—from the Italian region of Puglia. Burrata is prized for its special textures and rich milky flavor.

The best Italian spaghetti.

Dolci of Italy. Sweets of Italy.

Excuse me, my friends, but I don’t have answers to all these questions. Maybe you have? You can help me by providing your own opinion.

The Fountain of Neptune in Piazza Navona, Rome.

The Trevi fountain, Roma, Italy.

The Roman Forum, Italy.

The Colosseum, Roma, Italy.

Night view of Vatican City from the room 601 of the Hotel Nazionale, Rome, Italy.

Night view of Vatican City.

P.S. I should tell you more. In our family, I am not the only one who loves Italy. My suitcase liked flying with Alitalia so much that it is still flying while we are waiting for Alitalia to find it. 🙂

More about Italy:
What to See in Rome?! Are You Serious?
Decorated Ceilings of Vatican Museums or Interview with God
Museo Borghese, Roma: 100 percent Concentration of Beauty

71 thoughts on “My God, How I Love Italy!”

  2. Notice where Italy is located on a world map. The Italian boot is sticking out there in the middle of the shipping lanes of major bodies of water; Mediterranean, Adriatic, Tyrrhenian, Ionian, and surrounded by a host of countries on the continents of Africa, Asia, Europe, Eastern Europe.

    Yes, I can understand your enthusiasm for Italian food with all the influences it has and throughout history. Even the Italian pizzerias in my country are better than anyone’s especially as you go northeast. I’m sure there are other reasons for the food being fabulous but just by observance location seems obvious.

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  3. Amazing post. ha ha…i could relate to the frowning Spaniards. It was mostly in Madrid where i noticed this. The locals seemed friendlier the further away we got away from the capitol. Maybe it helped that I speak Spanish.

    Italy is my destination this summer. I hope to come back with as fond a memory as you did. And i know what you mean about not wanting to come home. I felt this way when i went to France last year…altho I felt a special kinship with the Spaniards. I do believe you must be Italian descendant; your soul reveals it by wanting to keep you there..

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  4. Great article and pictures! I have always wanted to travel there ever since I was young. Recently my family and me were able rent out of those amazing Villas in Tuscany Italy for a week. Have you ever been there? If so I really would like to hear about your experience!

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  5. I totally love Italy, too. Every change I get I head on down there. And the food – the more to the south you go, the better and more Mediterranean it gets. Every sleazy bistro in Rome has pizza that will send you directly to palatine heaven…

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      1. hmmm… perhaps because of the “tourist trap” phenomenon. Have you tried Puglia? My Italian teacher always bragged that’s where the best food in Italy is.

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  8. I feel exactly the same way about Italy, visited there 4 times now and each time I leave I want to go back again and again.
    Lovely post, love your photos and your sentiments 🙂
    Andrea

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  9. Another beautiful place I would love to visit again someday! Rome was my favorite city that I visited in Italy, Venice too! Italian people are so friendly and charming. The food looks so delicious 🙂

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  11. I understand exactly what you mean about the food quality differences and the comment about old frowning waiters in Spain made me a laugh. Sad but true. The only food and tastes close to the amazingness we experienced in Florence/Firenze we have found staying here on the beautiful island of Kefalonia where it was like being on a health farm with such delicious food served every dinner- http://hungryglutenfreevegetarian.wordpress.com/2012/10/01/gluten-free-paradise-in-greece-with-vegetarian-options-trapezaki-kefalonia/. I recommend it most highly to you. My husband suffers being a celiac and also various unknown digestive ailments but eating here every day he felt just great. Coming home he bought more Greek cookbooks and organic ingredients and used the Greek oil we brought home with us, but the food did not taste a patch on what we enjoyed there.

    After the revelation of Florence we visited every Italian restaurant in our town of Bournemouth but left disappointed each time. It has to be the produce. Italy and Greece have something special going on for sure with their sun ripened produce. You have not eaten good food until you have been to Florence or the Trapezaki Bay Hotel in my opinion.

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      1. I was looking at the map. Kefalonia is near Italy-ish – perhaps that’s why 🙂 I also might have been spoilt in this particular hotel by a very good cook. Certainly in Florence every meal was phenomenal – more so than other places in Italy like Rome or Venice where food was just okay. Sorrento really disappointed me for food but it is a terrible tourist trap. My stomach wishes to retire to Tuscany for sure. Do try Kefalonia though if you can muster up some enthusiasm for it. I’d love to see your photos of it.

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        1. I am always missing Tuscany, and you are very right about a cook. This is number one point in any cuisine or country. One of the best food we had on the Maldives, the island of Villamendhoo. The chef was from Germany.

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  15. Oh my! I am going to travelocity right now and looking for cheap flights. My husband has been there a couple of times before we got married and he’s promised me we’d go soon. I think we need to have a talk now!

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  18. Great post and great pictures (especially the food!!) – I know!! I’m Italian!!! best food in the world!!! 😉

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      1. Actually I was in a little town outside Genua to visit a dive equipment factory for three days many years ago. We went for a day to Porto Fino and it was really beautiful place, so I’d love to go back and travel around more.

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  20. Maybe you are descendant of some Italian architect who moved to Russia to help in designing St. Petersburg!
    Italy has 60% of entire world’s artistic heritage. Such a concentration of art may be a reason to love Italy for many people…
    Isn’t Mediterranean cooking the best in the world?

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