Well... before I went there all I had to go on was the mix of schoolboy knowledge and myth that had Italy painted as the comical incompetents of Europe. It was essentially seen as the home of a once great culture that had, in recent history, gone from being the centre of inept comedy Facism under Mussolini, to being the centre of inept comedy democracy with more leaders in 50 years than any self respecting nation should have in its lifetime.
But then I went there and prejudice was replaced to a large extent by experience. Sadly, however, my opinion did not change a huge amount. The Italian population seems to be made up of a startling number of men who believe the best way to introduce themselves to women is by pinching them on the arse. Driving, in the cities at least, is a nightmare with suicidal scooters and poorly maintained, yet rather expensive looking, cars fighting for ever square inch of space. The street corners seemed to be populated exclusively by thieves wearing large multi-coloured socks (I am still at a loss to explain this...). The least said about the Vatican the better, although the Italians have wisely insisted that this is another country and washed their hands of it.
From a tourist's perspective Italy has pretty much taken the view that it is full of great things that people will come to see whatever they do, so they don't bother making much of an effort. The leaning tower of Pisa, for example, is pretty much just a slightly wonky tower next to a church surrounded by at least 50 gift shop/market stalls, each of which sells exactly the same things as the one next to it.
Still, the people, by and large, are a friendly bunch when encountered outside of cars and public transport, and there are a lot of things to see that are truly beautiful. They can also not be beaten when it comes to making pasta and ice cream, although the Italian skill of cooking seems sadly limited to these areas.
Nice place to visit... wouldn't want to live there.
Maddening
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