Eating in Italy

I just returned from a vacation in Italy. I was expecting to gain at least 10 pounds, thanks to the abundance of beautiful food, but I did OK. Here are my recent observations about eating in Italy.
*Italian bread is wonderful, a distinctly unique flavor that is crusty on the outside and slightly doughy on the inside. It's really great soaking up leftover flavors on your plate, from salad and pasta to soup or fish.
*Coffee is an experience; of course I can't quite handle the powerfully, petite espressos all of the time and missed my large mugs of steaming coffee in the morning. I am in awe of the espresso counters, even found in gas stations, in which people make time for a small sip of espresso in the afternoons. I NEVER saw a single disposable coffee cup in all of Italy, not even in a gas station. God forbid that someone might drink coffee on the run (or walk), instead of savoring the flavors out of real china at a counter or table.
*"Frozen food" has a real presence at restaurants in Rome. I gather that there is some sort of controversy going on over restaurants serving frozen food. The first time I noticed this is when we went to a really cute restaurant in an alley near the Pantheon. I thought the food was delicious, I had pasta with wild mushrooms. Then I noticed the manager doing an inventory of frozen dinners in the restaurant, and she pulled out one individual frozen dinner after another. My first thought: I have never tasted such a good frozen dinner in my life! How can you freeze mushrooms and make them taste like this? Then I started noticing menus in restaurants all over the city making comments like "We serve frozen food" or "We DO NOT serve frozen food." I even saw big posters at touristy restaurants stating, "No Frozen Food!"
*Touristy restaurants are the norm in Rome. A local explained to me that food has gone downhill here, and that if you see a restaurant in a famous piazza, it's probably nondescript, boring, touristy food (pizza, pasta, roasted chicken/fries, burgers). He pointed us in the direction of the Jewish neighborhood for the best, authentic Roman food (which we immediately sought out). Indeed, we sampled food at some of these tourist spots, but found even Rome's touristy food to surpass many of our chain restaurants, in general. Sometimes if you want to sit at the cutest piazza and people-watch, you don't mind that you're not getting the most original food. Our best meals by far were outside of Rome.
*Gelato is worth walking a couple of miles for. Actually, I did not do the math to determine how much I'd have to walk to burn off a gelato. I tried to only get the small portions and preferred the more sorbet-type flavors, like melon and grapefruit. But I did discover the tiramisu flavor, with chunks of cake and rivers of coffee liquor, that was worth walking around all day for. Just the way gelatarias display their gelato is worth a peek. I love the way they are mounded up over the top of the steel containers, often garnished extravagantly with fruit, chocolate, candy, and desserts.
*Regional foods and traditions abound in Italy. The food is distinctly different when you travel an hour. In Tuscany, everything is about olive oil (just look outside and you'll see miles of olive tree orchards). There are rivers of olive oil on everything from soup and pasta to meat and cheese dishes. The beef is celebrated here, because there is an abundance of farms. You can order a very rare, Florentine style grilled steak by the gram for the whole table. The cheeses are distinctive and earthy. The foods are hearty and "stick to your ribs". I fell in love with thick Tuscan soups, such as a flavorful tomato soup filled with bread crumbs, herbs and olive oil; and a bean soup that had farro, spinach, assorted beans and herbs. Once, my son asked for pesto while we were in the Amalfi coast, to which he was told curtly that pesto is served only in Genoa, as it originates from this area. The Amalfi coast was all about seafood from the Mediterranean, lemons, and olive oil (yes more olive tree orchards everywhere). We had fresh seafood on pizza, pasta, and au natural (grilled whole fish).
*Caprese is a great way to celebrate tomatoes and basil. I couldn't get enough of the fresh mozzarella cheese, which tasted different in each location, with fresh basil, the most beautiful ripe tomatoes you've ever tasted, and rocket (arugula).
*The courses may be complicated (first course, meat course, etc.), but the portions are "normal" and you don't have to get one of every course. I didn't feel guilty about eating pasta with zucchini flowers and cream sauce (or freshly made gnocchi with walnut sauce!) when it came on a plate that contained about a 1-cup serving size. After a rocket salad, it was the perfect meal.
*Eating vegetarian is easy in Italy: pasta, mushrooms, eggs, cheese, soups, beans, and pizzas provide plenty of delicious diversity.
*Local wine is inexpensive and delicious. I can't tell you how many bottles of wine we shared for as little as 6 Euros (about $8 a bottle). In Amalfi, we fell in love with a white wine called Lacrima Christa (tears of Christ), which is grown in the harsh, volcanic soils of Mt. Vesuvius and costs less than 10 euros a bottle at a restaurant. We also enjoyed plenty of robust Chianti wines in Tuscany, some served straight out of huge, wicker-encased wine jugs, for even less.
*Food is meant to be enjoyed. You linger over a meal, the waiter gives you plenty of time to eat (maybe too much time from an American viewpoint?), and you would never walk around eating a take-out meal.
*The secret of staying slim in Italy is walking. We encountered so few overweight Italians, yet they love beautiful food. It's very hard to ride a car all over Rome, or Italy for that matter. You walk, walk, and walk. You even walk up steep cobble stone steps and streets, dragging little carts behind you with your supplies, regardless if you're an old woman. There are many places that cars are not even allowed, and people survive even better for it! Viva Italia!