Profile: Italy

Meet Italy

- That boot on the map you may have seen
- Nearly 2/3 of all Italians are employed in either service or tourism
- For example the tiny city of Venice (pop. ~200,000) sees 20,000,000 visitors in a year!

Cuisine: Can you fault them for having pretty mediocre beer when it's washing down the world's favourite cuisine? (Yes.) I suppose I had my fair share of wine anyhow, a really nice Chianti in Bologna but it was the food that was the main event. Included was our self-guided pizza tour of Naples, thin crust with tasty sauce and really tasty but not too overwhelming cheese, the smoked buffalo mozzarella a knockout. Then the pasta, especially the spicy pepperoncini with oil and garlic. Gnocchi and mushroom risotto weren't half bad either. Those are the main events but the land of cannoli and tiramisu (both of which I will normally pass on but were alright when I dipped a spoon to try Kate's) does the meanest gelato. Partial to the nut - Bacci, pistachio, creamy hazel -I vied to try two flavours at every sitting (or standing) which became a nearly daily ritual (occasionally two a days) regardless of how full of pasta I was. The cone in Rome with a smack of fresh cream - also normally passed upon - was particularly delightful.

Stray Dog Rating (out of five): Only pets!

Sidewalk Safety: Things are pretty slick for all those visitors. Traffic moves relatively well but you gotta keep an eye out for those sneaky scooters that like to scoot wherever they please. Walk with confidence on the zebra stripes.

Rambling Impressions: Whoa, who are all these people?? I suppose I knew Italy was a tourist destination but, by golly, after traveling out of, or at least shoulder, season through eastern Europe it was a little overwhelming at times to deal with. "I'm paying how many Euro to be shoulder to shoulder with all these dummies?" said the curmudgeonly stuck-up traveler. Still there were some remarkable things that duly deserve to be regarded by people who have traveled from afar. Rome has a gluttony of gems, it isn't even fair really, while I can totally see the original appeal of Venice even if it's now much harder to note through the throngs of souvenir shoppers. I'm glad to have done it and perhaps on a shorter, romantic venture might return but I definitely prefer more authentic, open pastures.