Why we love Italy

2). Food: When it comes to eating, Italians love their grub. Shops will close for hours at a time while the owners go home for a huge family luncheon and more than half of school children eat at home too, so food and family is obviously important. Italians are famous for their pasta (Italian meaning dough), but we put our knives and forks down to salute Italy for other favourites such as pizzas, formaggio (cheese) and frutta to name a few.

3). Wine: Of course alcohol should feature high on the list. And what better choice to wash down a fine meal than with a fine wine. Italy is one of the most celebrated wine producers in the world with every single region in the county fermenting its very own wine. We love Verdiccio and Gavi di Gavi. Cheers!

4). Artists/inventors: Where to start? There’s Michelangelo’s ceiling in the Sistine chapel (even if he did take his time on it), Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa and his blueprints for an aeroplane drawn 400 years before the Wright brothers. Italians are prominent in art and design the world over — well done!

5). Opera: Italian operas have been known to go on for several days but with people like Luciano Pavarotti serenading you, who could complain?

6). Architecture: Buildings in Italy have iconic status. There’s the Colosseum in Rome, where Lions used to feast on ripe Christians, and the leaning tower of Pisa. Standing 180 feet tall, at the top of the 300 steps are the church bells. Construction started in 1173 and took 700 years to complete. You’d have thought someone would’ve invented a level in that time wouldn’t you?

7). Italian football team: For decades women have swooned at the thought of Italian players and their famous "footballers legs" and now with their new figure-hugging tops, they can’t wait for players like Francesco Totti, Alessandro Del Piero and Antonio Cassano to swap shirts at the end of the game.

8). Ice cream: It can get damn hot in Italy and what better way to cool down that with an ice-cold gelato. Yummy!

9). Venice: Italy is full of cultured and fascinating cities but Venice has got to be number one. It's become a city that seems to be frozen in time as tourists love its architecture and vast museums. But because it is built on 118 sea inlets the city of Venice is sinking and it is feared will be uninhabitable within the next 100 years. Sob.

10). Versace: Created by late designer Gianni and taken over by his flamboyant sister Donatella, there’s no doubt that the Italian design house exerts a massive influence over the global fashion stage. With their ultra-glam, ultra-flash image, Versace aren’t for everybody, but they’re wonderfully, passionately Italian