6x this is really Italy

So we are in Puglia. The heel of Italy. You know me: give me a heel and you have me. But that's of course not the reason why it's so nice here. Here you find the red-pants-free (yes sorry, but go to Italy and you stumble over the civilized Dutch) Italy. The exactly-how-you-want-it Italy. I have collected 6 proofs.

1. This is what they say

Children here talk with those typically Italian voices. They repeat, just like their mothers, everything at least three times to emphasize their words. They place their thumb on their other fingers and move their hands in an upward motion in front of their chest. And you really don't hear them saying words like ‘shit’ or ‘fuck’. Here a loud and clear ‘Madonna Mia’ is heard when there is swearing.

2. This too

Honestly, Italy stands for taste and style, but here in Campania (in the countryside) it’s not Dolce & Gabbana and Prada that are on the fashion menu. Think comfortable sweatpants, a big T-shirt, and yes, our neighbor has such a lovely mole on her cheek from which four long hairs grow proudly. Because that, that is possibly an even more authentic Italy than the black-haired, high-heeled Milanese.

3. La famiglia

You have them and you keep them. What we cannot imagine still really happens here. Mimmo, the gardener of the house where we are staying, lives in a palazzo with tutta la famiglia. His parents, his sister, his brother, and their families. In total eight children and ten adults. Look, then your babysitting problem is immediately solved.

4. Endless summer

You can't make this up either. Here in the south, schools are not equipped with air conditioning, making it way too hot to teach and learn. Therefore, there is an endless vacation from early June to mid-September.

5. The ice cream culture

Talk to an average Italian child around eleven in the morning and he/she has already got their first gelato.

6. Il pranzo

And especially the lunch on Sunday afternoon; you have it with your family. Long tables, carafes of wine, children who are allowed to watch a movie on an iPad from the waiters and halfway through play outside in the square and finish with a cup of homemade lemon sorbet where for those who like (guilty) a splash of vodka is added. Something tells me this comes close to how life is meant to be.