The Best Things About Italy

I recently read in a magazine a list of the ten best things about Italy: Rome, the food, the wine, the people, the pace of life, the fashion and of course, the gelato all made the cut. The list, thought up by readers of the magazine, was a tiny bit generic, we thought, and wasn’t necessarily written by people who actually live in Italy. And Ryan doesn’t even like Rome that much – so we made our own list of the best things about Italy:

When you get a whole shower full of hot water. Yes, this is at the top of the list. Hot water tanks in Italy must be as small as our kitchen sink:

…because hardly ever does the hot water last more than a few minutes. Those times when you get a whole shower of steamy, scalding water to yourself? Heaven.

When you go to pay for your glass of wine and realize it was only two euro (which is approximately $2.60 USD).

The sound of cow bells in the mountains. There is something so Alpine and perfect about this, I really can’t explain it because it’s like a fairy tale.

When you sit down to lunch in the middle of the week, on a freezing cold January day, and your lunch is a steaming hot bowl of pasta.

When you turn the right corner in Venice and come across the Rialto Bridge at night:

When you have an entire conversation in Italian and don’t walk away feeling confused or embarrassed or both.

When the perfect February day comes along, after weeks of snow, and you can sit out in the sun on the top of the mountain.