One of my girlies is honeymooning in Italy right now (yeah life is not fair, get over it).  Before her trip last Friday, we talked about our experience there and it made me miss that wonderful country filled with wonderful people. And of course the mind-blowing, out of this world, solar plexus blasting Italian cuisine..

There are many, many wonderful tourist sightseeing spots and attractions in Venice, Rome and Milan. They are all splendid but, if you are short on time and cannot visit all of them, just go to one or two of those highly recommended places of interest and spend the rest whatever pathetic time you have in Italy in a cafe (interesting fact: the first coffeehouses in Western Europe appeared in Venice).  Wake up early in the morning and sidle up in a popular yet nostalgic-looking coffee shop. Watch the barristers churn out espressos so aromatic you get a caffeine high just by inhaling. Observe how Italian men pop in and out before heading to work with papers under their arms, exchanging friendly banters with the other patrons on how their favourite soccer teams played the night before.  Behold sights of lovers sharing a breakfast whilst whispering sweet nothings.  Witness life and simply enjoy it’s presence.

There is a perfect Italian proverb that justifies this.

“Paesi che vai, usanze che trovi.” (When in Rome, do as the Romans do)