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Culture Italy For many, the words “culture” and Italy are nothing if not synonymous. From the orgiastic gusto of Italian fine dining to the theater, music and opera of this enchanting peninsula, and from the bards and poets to the romanticism and strife of Italy’s turbulent political movements – it’s had nearly 60 distinct presidents in office since the end of World War II – Italy’s culture can only be describes as that of a charming chaos.
Southern Italy digs in as the truly “Italian” component of the country, eschewing the Northern Italians as a watered down version of the south. But anyone traveling through even the northernmost part of Italy for a few days will note immediately the intensity of Italian culture as it contrasts abruptly to that of Austria, France and most of Switzerland. It is not uncommon, for instance, for a waiter serving pizza in Florence to interrupt you half-way through while you are taking your order, to make cat calls to a beautiful woman, likely an old friend of his. “Mama Mia! Bella!”
Female travelers should, of course, be aware that many Italian men can be very forward in their advances, but nevertheless are often quite respectful: they simply have no shame in expressing their attraction, and many times can be downright flattering. It is okay, of course, to politely ask an Italian man to leave you alone: you don’t have to pose with him as his friend takes pictures of you together!
Gay travel in Italy is surprisingly open, although the more accepted clubs and bars are reserved to the northern cities. Indeed, there is a marked difference between the two halves of Italy, as the cosmopolitan centers of culture to the north are much more European in their views of morality, despite the vast majority of the country being nominally Roman Catholic. In the south, family values are a lot more traditional, mafia culture is strong, and arranged marriages are common. Yet it really is true that a much stronger taste of Italy’s beauty can be sampled in the South.
While the Romans were one of the strongest movements throughout history to have emanated from the Italian peninsula, leaving their traces throughout Europe and parts of Africa to this day, they were probably the least culturally advanced of all. The Etruscans, Phoenicians and many other peoples have shaped Italy, as we know it. And like Greece, Italy is one of the world’s major progenitors of Culture.
Opera—an Italian form—is held to be the truest dramatization of Italian life. The opera’s emotive and comic high points are countered by pathos and tragedy. The wide range of feeling found in an opera is closely tied to Italian society. Most of the world’s top opera singers call Italy home. Visitors who pay a visit to one of Italy’s imposing opera houses will come away with a truer understanding of Italy—and maybe even catch a rising star.
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