I was supposed to see Italy 3 years ago, but I screwed it up - since then, I have been dying to get back. Italy just has this reputation for amazing food, great weather, beautiful people, hill towns, coastline, culture, and historical relevance. It's the home of Tuscan wine, the Rennaisance, and Catholicism.

I am really excited to explore it all, but I am even more interested to see what true Italian culture is like. I have to admit, Italian-American stereotypes (specifically the crew of Jersey Shore, and some overly pumped-up self-professed Italians from college) have sort of turned me off a bit. But then - I have also met some perfectly sweet and forward-thinking Italian-Americans (I am marrying one of them) so I'm sure the fist-pumping, "Bitch - make me a sandwich" Guido is just a small subset. Either way, I am really interested to see how the culture and the people differ.