Sergio!
Ricordo con piacere! (I remember fondly) During my Army career (1967-1988) I had the privilege of serving in Italy for almost 7 of my 20 years service.
I lived in Livorno (Leghorn) Italy for 4.5 years, a major commerce port on the western shore, and close enough to Pisa, and my work location that I would often change clothes, and go into Pisa, and climb the steps to the top of the leaning tower to eat my lunch, enjoy the view, and watch the tourists who had saved their pennies for years to be able to spend a couple days there...
Italy is the country of half of my heritage (Germany being the other), and I felt very privileged to be able to serve there.
The food was amazing, and LugerDoc's comment about the
women 
and the
pizza 
are spot on.
Seldom will you find two pizzas in Italy that taste even similar as each restaurant has their own recipe and methods for producing them. Give me New York Style Pizza anyday... but I never had a bad meal in Italy!
Don't forget the wine! Wine is
cheaper than Coca-Cola, and you can have it delivered to your front door like they used to deliver milk in this country years ago.
If you go to visit Italy, never look for a particular wine label when you eat out at a restaurant... always ask for the "vino da tavola" or house wine as the establishment owners always save the best vintages for themselves. I was never disappointed with the house wine and had some on a daily basis with my evening meal...
I spent my last two years on active duty, in a small town in northern Italy on the other coast supporting the Italian Air Force as a Site Communications Chief and Army Liaison at a joint US-Italy air defense special weapons site. The rural livinng was very enjoyable, and the people even more friendly. If I had to retire somewhere other than the USA, it would probably be in Italy.