John Moretti - Moon Living Abroad Italy

Roman Forum

When you order an orange juice in the morning, the bartender picks up an orange.

You dont leave home without your sunglasses.

Espresso and cappuccino are perfect every time, and paid for with a few coins.

You live comfortably within your means, and wealth inequality is almost unnoticed.

Your 3 oclock meeting is in a 700-year-old frescoed palace.

Everything is a work of art.

Five weeks of vacation are the norm, and some of the nicest vacation spots in the world are only a few hours drive away.

Simple, traditional recipes + fresh, local ingredients = a great meal.

You can still find a cobbler to repair a shoeand it is done with care.

Friends and family greet you at the airport.

Saturday: Ski a steep, powdery slope in the Alps. Sunday: Sunbathe on the Riviera.

When you step off the plane in Italy, feel the balmy breeze, and hear the conversations of people who dont seem to have a care in the world, its as if youve returned to a more innocent time. You can see the relief on Italians faces when they hear their own language and share a wisecrack with a perfect stranger about a baggage belt thats taking hours to get rolling. This is our country, they think, warts and all, and we wouldnt have it any other way. They may have just returned from London or Munich or Brussels, all very orderly places where problems are quickly resolved and anyway dont seem to pop up quite as frequently, but where people seem to be more stressed nonetheless.

Sure, there are Italians who feel exasperated with a lot of things about their country, but theyll rarely complain about it. When faced with a long line at the post office, they dont fume over it and stamp their feet, but rather occupy themselves with more important thoughts, like where to go for dinner that night, or else they strike up a conversation with the person next to them.

This human touch, a tolerance bordering on appreciation for the countrys blissful imperfections, is what makes an everyday event such as grocery shopping more a recreational activity than a chore. In Italy, its not a matter of driving to the supermarket and loading as many plastic bags into a minivan in as little time as possible. Instead, youll walk down cobblestone alleys to markets where vendors spend the time to tell you how to prepare a certain fish or which vegetable to choose as a side dish, even if it means that the person behind you has to wait a few more minutes.