I apologize to those who have written to us in anticipation of this blog.  I have written and re-written on numerous ocassions as a result of the love/hate relation I have had with this country.  We arrived in Italy on August 18 and my first impression from the beginning is this country is the mirror image of  Mexico.  My opinion has not changed much to this writing. Many of the regions of this country I would consider bordering on third world.  Many tourists have told us that the Italians seem cold and unfriendly and sometimes down right rude! We have experienced both but our overall experience has been a culture that is both warm and generous. We have found Italy to be expensive by comparison to some of the other countries we have traveled. In many cases the standard has been lower in Italy but the price tag did not reflect.  I was warned by an Australian fellow we met in the Netherlands, that Italy was the least favourite of their travels.  They were doing basically the same trip we were doing in three months.  Don't know how they did it!!  He summed it up by saying Italy is dirty, expensive, terrible drivers and you will definitely get screwed if you do not get your accommodations confirmed in writing before you commit.  Although I share many of his sentiments, we have had some wonderful experiences in this country and have made some amazing friendships!