Good country, exhausting tourist industry

Italy is a genuinely beautiful and interesting place. Amalfi Coast is worth every superlative thrown at it. The risotto is legitimately excellent. world-famous cuisine gave the trip real depth.

What I struggled with: the tourist infrastructure around the headline sites in Bologna is relentlessly commercial and overcrowded sites in peak summer is a genuine friction point. You can feel the gap between authentic Italy and the packaged version sold to tourists. The authentic version wins, but you have to work to find it.