Isn't it beautiful?  Just like all those guys I saw lunching together in Ostuni the other year: so natural, so relaxed, so absolutely at ease with one another in a way it is virtually impossible to imagine in England: all sweaty armpits, gaseous lager and farting.  "You want to have what with me?  Are you a queer or what?". 
I saw the passeggiata in Brindisi, and the little kids playing in the squares in Venice: in the ghetto: bringing out their toys and running around without fear of traffic. 
I don't care either what these guys say about Italy - like you I'm sold.  I'm only sorry I may not get there this year - France instead, with the family.  There's a terrific cafe in Florence that does deep-fried vegetables.  Do come back, but in your own sweet time...

Italian shoes can be bloody awful.  My Italian desert boots are nice, ditto some soft loafers that make my young daughter's friends howl with laughter because they're now curling up at the ends.  My wife said the Gucci driving shoes I once had made me look like a pimp.  She has a habit of saying things like that. 

At least MacInnes didn't care much for pubs.

Piero never fails, I source all my Italian soundtracks from Moviegrooves in Oxford (not a plug, by the way).  If you can't make it to Cadiz, the next best thing is Sketches of Spain, preferably Miles's version and the final page of Hemmingway's The Sun Also Rises/Fiesta.

I once had, I once had...  I've been married more than once, man!  No, seriously, I'd always wanted a pair.  No, don't ask me why...

I feel more deeply about this now than at the time of that initial posting.  Loewy/Bel Goodfella style.  It's a frame of mind that has its component parts.  I'm not much of a consumer, other than of what I need to stay alive and mentally healthy.  That's why the Italian weather and people do it for me.  That's why orange juice and a laundered Brooks shirt do it for me. 

I could never 'shop for England'.

I live austerely but would die without red wine, grappa and espresso. These, I worry, I am now addicted to. I was teetotal between the ages of 17 and 27 and never missed it but a drink now makes food, and life, taste better. I do though admire your abstinence and self-control. I am utterly bored by those entranced by the oblivion drink and drugs offer.

TM

Italy is the land of my dreams and my imagination.  I was taken there at an impressionable age.

The desert boots are also very fine.

"Coloro che mancano gli occhi non dovrebbero cercare di vestirsi nel nostro stile, perche' sono tutti i detagli"

Or somefink like that guv'nor.

TM

i have no real experience on italy aka. never visited the country nor do i speak the language, but i have a great admiration towards italian cuisine with it's hundreds of different branches. also, i love italian (red) wines, admire italian design, architecture and art, past and present. us lot in finland can never even dream of claiming as rich a cultural heritage than italy.

we were all peasants - and basically still are - a hundred years ago.

i'm not going to venture into politics, our leaders are also shite, only in a different way.

as for italian tailoring, cannot complain on the grey flannell zegna suit i've got.

was supposed to spend the honeymoon trip in firenze when i got married. we ended up in london instead..