TEN ITALIANO MUSINGS

10. BREAD - The Italians love to serve bread with meals, but they seem to prefer it if the bread is hard, so that it hurts your mouth. Weird. I only found soft bread at one place, which was the hotel in Venice. Oh yeah, no toast options for breakfast.

9. STICKERS - Italians don't seem to believe in souvenir stickers, there were very few options. It doesn't seem hard does it? A cheap and common souvenir medium, which shouldn't be hard to sell. Harden up Italy.

8. STALLIONS - Yeah the Italian fellas reckon they're pretty smooth. Kings of the lady-killer stare-down. Unfortunately for them the Aussie tourist ladies were not impressed. Suckers.

7. TOILET SEATS - Or the specific lack thereof. Public toilets in Italy do not contain seats, so unless you're equipped to stand up (ladies), you'd best be doing some squatting. I also came across a toilet in one restaurant that must have been designed for snakes - it was about 10cm above the floor.

6. HAWKERS - Not the footy team, the guys in the street trying to sell umbrellas and souvenirs and hats and stuff, as well as cleaning ladies with a bowl at the entrance to public bathrooms. They're everywhere, they even go into restaurants and approach your table. However, they aren't as pushy as the dudes in Paris, and seem to handle rejection better.

5. DREW CAREY - Italian Drew Carey was an epic addition to the karaoke night in Florence. I have never met a better foreign doppelgänger who dances and sings. Hilarious highlight indeed. 'New York, New York' will never be the same.

4. PROPER PERONI - In a giant brown bottle & so much nicer than the rubbish they export to the unassuming shmucks in other countries.

3. FOOD - Sticklers for freshly prepared food with minimal (basic) ingredients. Italians take a lot of pride from the food they prepare. Just don't buy fast food from the train stations in Rome.

2. VINO - Yes the Italians love their wine, and they're very good at it - particularly the old-school vineyards in Tuscany. If they take pride in their food preparation this is magnified where wine is involved. I'm not a fan of wine, but even I liked a few of the reds on offer at the wine-tasting session in the Tuscan countryside.

1. OLDNESS - Most specifically Rome, but all over Italy is full of old ruins and so forth, and many such buildings are still in use or at least are still standing. It's pretty overwhelming because there's so much of it (seen one ruin, seen 'em all) but if you stick to the main attractions as well as some of the medieval churches and towers, it's very impressive. Russell's house was probably the most awesome.