One of the most memorable aspects of Italy is the food! When visiting, I realized that Italians take food anddining very seriously. Theyonlyuse the freshest of local ingredients and treat "eating out" as a true celebration of food. When we ate in restaurants in Italy,there were at least four or five courses to eat. It began with apperetifs (which are "appetite wetting" cocktails),then went to huer derves (appetizers consitsting ofmeats, cheeses, and pate's), then the primi piati (which consisted of a starch like pasta or gnocchi), then came the secondi (which consisted of a meat dish) this would be followed by dulce (dessert), coffees, and digesteeves (sweet cocktails). Needless to say, gaining a little weight while in Italy is quite normal!