September 14, 2018

13 Things the Italians Do Better Than We Do

By Brad Rickman | Posted to Conde Nast Traveler

It seems like every week brings a new story about how great life is in Italy—hello, generous parental-leave policies and three-and-a-half hour meals. In celebration, we thought we’d offer up our own little tribute to the country’s genius, half love letter and half #travelenvy log. Here are 13 things our Italian friends do like no one else.

Photo by Eszter and David/Gallery Stock

Coffee

There are other outstanding coffee cultures around the world, but no one does it quite like the Italians. It isn’t just pastime or profession for them, it’s art. The perfect grind; that silky crema; the precise amount of heat applied to the milk; and of course a beautiful pour of foam. Espresso. Cappuccino. Macchiato. Attention to detail is the thing we admire most, and that particularly Italian refusal to accept no thing but the right thing.

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Aperitivo

A work of cultural genius, this: sit down in the light of a waning afternoon; have a drink and a (complimentary) snack; watch the world stroll by. It’s the height of civilization—far more graceful than American happy hour—and no one on earth does it with the devotion of the Italians. It hardly matters whether you opt for a negroni, an aperol spritz, a glass of wine, or a Lemonsoda; the olives will be briny, the patatine will be crisp, and the sights will be beautiful. Why can’t this be an export?

Courtesy Ferragamo

Shoes

From precision-executed standards to design-forward flourishes, the finest craftsmanship and the most convention-shattering ideas in footwear are Italian. You can’t beat them, but you can wear them.

Everett Collection

Movies

The modern cinematic era owes its soul to postwar Italian masters like Visconti, De Sica, and Fellini—and we all owe them the Italy of our imaginations, stocked as it is by Mastroianni, Sophia Loren, and Anita Ekberg-draped fountains. But the magic doesn’t stop at La Dolce Vita and The Bicycle Thief. We’ve also been charmed more recently by Tornatore’s Cinema Paradiso, Benigni’s Life Is Beautiful, and Sorrentino’s La Grande Bellezza. As with so many things Italian, such great films are all about the balance: beauty, wit, tragedy and magic, each in just the right portion.

Christian Veirig

Suits

Sure, Saville Row is legendary; but there’s nothing like a visit to Milan’s Quadrilatero della Moda to make a non-native feel inadequate when it comes to suits—and how to wear them. Italian men have a gift for flourish without flash and swagger, inhabiting their clothes in a way that seems at once both classic and plucked from the future.

Christian Vierig

Sunglasses

Forget the fact that Luxottica, an Italian company, manages some 80 percent of the world’s eyewear brands. Sunglasses are more than an accessory for Italian women (and men). They’re as indispensable as shoes, and just as expressive—summer or winter, one never leaves home without them. Trendsetting designs are enviable enough. What we find most difficult to imitate, though, is the flair with which they’re worn.

Photo by Marcus Nilsson/Gallery Stock

Pasta

Though it’s often poorly served by misinterpretations (and pairings with breadsticks), true Italian-style pasta is a thing of divine elegance. It’s about the noodles, of course—but it’s also about sugo, or sauce. The simpler (and fresher, usually) the better. For Italians, pasta is an expression of terroir as surely as wine; regional specificities aren’t just the norm but the delight. Pesto in Liguria; bolognese in Emilia-Romagna; pasta con le sarde (sardines) in Sicily—make it where it grows, or where you catch it, and the magic seems to triple.

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Beaches

You can find endless Italian beaches that match those in the American imagination (head to Sardegna, for instance), but they’re in the minority. Instead, think small. So much the better. Small means intense: rock cliffs on one side, deep blue Mediterranean (or Adriatic, or Ligurian, or Tyrrhenian, or Ionian) on the other. And small means crowded. For Italians, beach time is as much a social occasion as a getaway: Lounge chairs that fall back to catch rays can also sit up for conversation, and, of course, an aperitivo.

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Cars

There’s plenty of brawn in the legendary Italian garage; when it comes to luxury power sports cars, it’s hard to get more definitive than Maserati or Lamborghini. But Italy has a flair for auto design that goes way beyond heft. It’s the land of Pininfarina, after all, home of definitive driving and design statements like the Alfa Romeo Spider, the Fiat Giulietta, the Ferrari 250 GTO, and of course the Fiat 500—reissue as well as original. Clever, sexy, and cute all in measures that add up to a demand to be seen as much as driven.

Andrey Pyatnitsky

Gelato

Let’s get one thing straight: gelato is not ice cream. First, it’s mostly milk; second, it’s not served frozen. Gelato is slow-churned, and dispensed, generally, at higher temperatures. Both of which make it, oddly, creamier. But that’s science. The thing that wins us over—and that we wish we could reproduce, reliably—is the taste. Of course it’s hard to separate that from the location in which you’re eating it. And that, too, is irreplaceable.

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Cultural Consumption

We know, we know. Most countries the world over have cultural attractions worth a post themselves, but this isn’t about that: This is about the fact that the Italian government is giving every 18 year old a €500 ($566) “culture bonus” to spend on books, movie tickets, museums, and national parks as part of the nationwide initiative focused on making the country more enriching—yes, Prime Minister Matteo Renzi told reporters that he’d be earmarking €2 billion ($2.26 billion) solely for this very cause.

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Dolce Far Niente

Does any country do “pleasant idleness” better than Italy? We don’t think so. From renting a boat on Lake Como and paddling away the afternoon to lingering over a late (late) lunch, the country proves that sometimes, no plans can often be the very best plan.

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Healthy Living

We know, we know—in a country where pasta and gelato are prevalent and even celebrated (see slides seven and ten), it’s odd that we should have healthy living here, too. Yet according to the Bloomberg Global Health Index, Italy is the world’s healthiest country for a reason—the country’s vegetable- and olive oil-rich diet leads to better cholesterol and overall health, and the “excess of doctors” pushes life expectancies into the eighties.