Rome, Italy

A review

Just as the Po Valley and “Italy” are not the same thing, the Po Valley itself isn’t one place. The cities of Northern Italy in many cases have identities and histories just as distinct from one another as full-blown European countries. Verona, Trento, Parma, Bologna, Milan, Venice, Turin, and Genoa were all independent players from the fall of the Roman Empire right up until Italian Unification in the 1870s. That means they only rarely act as a unit, and the emphasis of all things Italian has always been on diversification and differentiation. - Peter Zeihan

The culture within Italy varies a lot between the different regions which speaks to Zeihan’s comments about the distinction between the regions. If you’re still not sure, when visiting Italian cities, ask them about where they make their “best” wines and the answers differ dramatically.

Italy: Closed for business

“Traveling is the ruin of all happiness! There’s no looking at a building after seeing Italy.” - Fanny Burney

Seeing the Roman Forum and Venetian architecture without interruption or photo bombing tourists is a true blessing. Especially with quality food and wine, it’s most impressive that they found to build structures of epic proportion in the OG empires. Although photos were graced, the culture to an extent has been kneecapped by pandemic rules. The military is deployed to intersections while 95% of museums and attractions are closed in an tourism-based economy.

Food, Pizza and Wine

The food and vino in Italy are great regardless of where you end up in the country. Like the weather, the further south you go the better the food and vibes are. If you’re like me, you might only be able to tolerate so many grains; pasta, bread, baked goods, risotto, and the like. The vino varieties are like no other and have reds or whites for every occasion.

The Roman Forum

Infrastructure of epic proportion that gives you a history lesson while you walk right through it.