Why is Italy So Appealing to So Many?

It was love at first sight. But we are certainly not unique in that regard! What is it that makes Italy beloved to so many outsiders…and to most Italians, as well?

Simple question = simple answer, right? Eh…maybe not so much! 

We are asked this often – Why do y’all love Italy so much? /Marty has come up with his pat monologue in response, all of it true, but let’s flesh it out a bit! 

Before you say “Duh!”, hear me out. Everyone who travels to Italy is jonesing for real Italian food…pizza, pasta, gelato! And it’s all excellent for the most part. But there’s more to it: one must slow down, avoid the tourist traps near major monuments, and relish the authentic version of Italian food and cooking found. 

It’s simple but elegant. Locally sourced, “Zero Kilometers”, seasonal, and grown/made/served with a huge portion of pride. Italians value clean food, traditional cooking methods, sticking with what’s in season and what grows locally…and it’s critical that it’s made with love. They also preserve the heritage of food with recognized certifications such as IGP for geographic protection or DOC for Protected Designation of Origin. You can be sure your Prosciutto di Parma or that fine Pecorino cheese is where it says it’s from and made with all traditional and uncontaminated procedures. This, my friends, is why people rave about eating in Italy…with the side benefit of much happier stomachs. 

I just set myself up for another “Duh!” but wait…! Some of the world’s greatest wines are to be found in Italy. It’s always a joy to discover what is the most local, then experience a glass. As with food, there is extreme pride in the history and methods in use for wine production today in Italy. Think about it…they’ve been making wine for thousands of years! 

Yet it’s more than simply a good glass of wine. The landscape nurtures endless rows of elegant vines that lace the hillsides from north to south, while small wineries and enotecas offer warm invites to try their wares, chat awhile. Ancient cellars are plentiful, many in use since the Etruscan times (think hundreds of years BC), and often guests are welcome to roam them. To me, there is a heady rush stepping into one of these and smelling the warm, musky, wine-steeped scent of hundreds, even thousands of years. Cellars (cantinas) and ancient Italian churches equate to what history smells like in my opinion! 

I could write a small brochure on this topic. Italians have been doing life for a very long time. With that, it seems they have figured out what’s important! The emphasis on family, connections with friends and community, protecting and preserving one’s village or town – these are still very important in Italian culture, even if they are no longer critical to surviving the latest raid from the village across the valley. 

Folks of every age gather each evening in the local piazzas. Many enjoy an aperitivo (drink and light snack) with friends, families walk the dog and push the strollers together, children run and play freely, elders warm the benches and have animated discussions. It’s a beautiful thing. Of course, Italians have also lived in very close proximity for incalculable years making this much easier to do, but they value it, they crave it, they cherish it. And we love to be a part of it. 

Mealtimes are valued. Lunch breaks run two or three hours, meals are not rushed when at the table, courses are slowly enjoyed – it’s another beautiful cultural ritual!

Beauty is a big part of all-things-Italian, as well. We know about the fashion and cars, but it’s also a part of practically every part of life. I could show you the coolest pizza cutter from Italy sitting in my drawer! The eye for making life aesthetically pleasing is engrained in Italian DNA, it seems. 

So many layers of time cover the landscape of Italy. From the earliest Greeks, Etruscan communities, the Roman Empire, and centuries of small city-states, each preceding culture has left its mark on the land. We marvel at the ancient Roman “litter” lying about – pieces of columns or carved stone causally resting in a road median are not unusual. The impressive remains of aqueducts stand stoically over many parts of Italy; they never fail to make me gasp in awe. And of course, the plethora of antiquities from Etruscan caves, medieval buildings, Renaissance art, and enough man-made exquisiteness to make one think maybe the Roman gods really did come down and have a hand at all of this are endless…and often overwhelming. 

Italy does a stellar job with museums, as well. Never miss the chance to experience one. And that includes the really big outdoors ones: Pompeii, Herculaneum, the Roman Forum, and a million more. You’ll never be the same after experiences like this. 

It’s not called “la bella lingua” for nothing. Is there anything more lilting, more musical, more alluring than hearing a native Italian speak? Probably not! Like everything else, Italians speak with passion, no matter the topic. Yes, hands flare for emphasis, faces are animated – it’s a sheer joy to behold. We’ve been attempting to speak Italian for quite a few years, maybe not so much studying diligently each day, but staying as immersed as we can. Little by little, we add a bit more each year and love (LOVE!) the ability to communicate, even if rudimentarily, with Italians. Once our extended time begins, full immersion might be the fast track we need! 

I’d place a bet that the largest majority of cheap art prints, calendars, restaurant décor, and themed merchandise sport something that is instantly recognized as Italy (in all fairness, we’ll let Paris come in at second place). It is simply a gorgeous country! 

Long and narrow, Italy offers vast options of microclimates and geography. Miles of verdant rolling vineyards, seas of silver olive trees, craggy cliffs towering over cerulean seas, mysterious primeval forests, snowcapped mountains reflected in pristine lakes…it’s magical. I get weak kneed just thinking about the natural beauty my eyes have beheld in Italy.

There is plentiful wilderness in Italy, but much of it has been cultivated for millennia. It’s not a bad thing; Italians are very protective of their land and typically care for it well. Each year more movements are in place to reclaim what has been not cared for, as well as employ sustainable practices. There are also many regulations, as burdensome as they may seem, that prohibit altering anything historical, even to the point of approved shutter colors to controlling the number of vineyards in an area. Most Italians are fully supportive of these rules, however. The reward is the beauty and preservation that would not exist otherwise.

Believe it or not, all of this can be stated in short answer form, but we love to expound on what makes us feel such affection for Italy. Maybe you’ve experienced this, as well? Or perhaps these words have spurred along your dream to discover the same for yourself. Leave us a comment and let us know!