Eleven things we should adopt from Italy

We don’t want to take everything from Italy. The obvious initial reaction might be to welcome every single cultural element from the giant boot, embrace the full dolce vita, to go as hardcore Italian as we’re able.

After all, Italians love to remind everyone that there are two types of people in this world: Italians, and people who wish they were Italian.

But I don’t want everything. I don’t want to have to pay to go to the beach. I don’t want Australian drivers to be any wilder than they already are. I would say most women could do without the “ciao, bella” harassment you tend to get in Italy. And the political instability over there, which results in everything from organised crime to disorganised garbage collection, can stay where it is.

Let’s be real though: there are many elements of Italian life and culture that we would do well to adopt here in Australia. These are just a few.

Il dolce far niente

“Il dolce far niente”: the sweetness of doing nothing.Credit: Getty Images

Forget la dolce vita, the sweet life – it’s as much marketing slogan as lifestyle choice. What you want instead is il dolce far niente: the sweetness of doing nothing. This is an Italian concept that’s vastly underrated by much of the rest of the world, who see doing nothing as wasting time. But what could be sweeter than having nothing to do? Just lazing around by a pool or the beach, casually strolling city streets, sipping a negroni at a pavement bar with nowhere to go and nowhere to be?

Dressing well

Spend some days among the stylish Milan set and you’ll feel like a slob.Credit: Getty Images

We Australians are a bunch of slobs. It’s hard to avoid that conclusion after you spend a few days wandering around inner-city Rome, or Milan, or Florence, or Como or Amalfi. Everyone is just so well dressed. Men, women, everyone. It’s not overtly fancy or sexy, it’s just stylish, thoughtful – and yes, probably expensive. And then you see the Aussie tourist go past in the boardies and thongs …

Pasta as primi

Can every meal include a pasta primi?Credit: Getty Images

I once asked an Italian friend: how do you do it? How do you have antipasti, and then a pasta or rice dish for primi, and then a main meat dish (with vegetables on the side) as secondi, and then a dessert? His answer was: we don’t. This might be the structure of every Italian menu, but it doesn’t mean you have to order from every section. Still, I love the idea of pasta as a starter. Just a small plate, done well, to prepare you for the next course. It might mean skipping antipasti, but these are the sacrifices we have to make.

The long lunch with family

Given we now appreciate the sweetness of doing nothing, we can do that nothing with our most cherished family and friends, often on a Sunday when lunch goes on well past dinner. Italians are famous for their love of dining, for the value they put on family and relationships, and the willingness to devote long periods to indulging both passions. I’m all for it.

La passeggiata

The passeggiata stroll is one of the quintessential Italian pastimes.Credit: Simon Wong

We’ve cheated ourselves out of this in Australia by insisting on cities, and particularly on smaller towns, that prioritise cars and make little allowance for those who walk. How are you going to have a gentle, social evening stroll when you live miles away from everything? So we can only dream of adopting the passeggiata, the Italian custom of going for an aimless evening wander through the streets, to chat with friends and help digest your food.

The summer shutdown

Ever been to Rome in August? It’s a ghost town (save for all the tourists). The real Romans have all packed up and left because it’s too hot and the beach is calling. It’s a similar vibe across the country, as everyone clocks off for a month and goes on holiday. We have a small window in Australia where we do this too, from Christmas Eve to New Year’s Day, but how about we normalise a whole month off?

Stand-up coffee bars

Customers at an espresso bar in Naples.Credit: Alamy

One of my absolute favourite things to do in Italy is just wander into a random bar, order coffee at the register, hand the ticket over the counter and wait to be slung a perfect cappuccino or espresso, which I’ll drink with no ceremony, just standing there among all the other caffeine fiends, before going about my business. It’s cheap, it’s delicious and it’s a style we should definitely import.

Hand gestures

It’s one thing to learn a few words of Italian, but you should also learn the hand gestures, the pinched fingers, the palms together, the flick of the chin, the point to your eye. And then bring them home: they’re a very effective way of getting your point across.

Plenty of drinking (in moderation)

There’s a drink for every occasion and almost any time of the day in Italy.Credit: Getty Images

As with most European nations with similar cultures, Italians love a glass of wine or a beer or a grappa or an Aperol or an amaro just about any time of the day – only, for the most part, no one gets drunk. Sounds like a healthy way of doing things, right?

Train travel

A scenic rail trip through the Cinque Terre.Credit: Getty Images

Pause for a second to enjoy my signature rant about the lack of decent long-distance train travel options in Australia, and the comparative excellence of services in countries that lag far behind us in the financial stakes. Trains in Italy aren’t perfect, but they’re reasonably priced, frequent, comfortable, go almost everywhere and are surprisingly fast. Rome to Naples is about the same distance as Sydney to Newcastle, only the Italian train trip takes one hour and 10 minutes; the Australian journey is 2½ hours.

Overt displays of passion and joy

Italians are nothing if not passionate.Credit: Getty Images

There’s a downside to this, obviously. Because if you’re going to have overt displays of the good emotions – passion, joy, happiness, love – then you’re also going to have overt displays of the other emotions: anger, frustration, impatience, rampant horniness. But that’s Italy, and the trade-off is worth it because to share in the shouty, tearful, all-encompassing love and happiness of an Italian is one of the world’s great experiences.