The land of carbohydrates

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So you like pizza, right? You may even LOVE pizza. I know I sure do...or rather, did. But seriously, give it two weeks, where the cheapest (and pretty much ONLY) option for any meal involved refined, white carbs, and you will get sick of it too.
Here, it's an overkill. Walk down any street, and you will see a minimum of 5 pizzerias, 3 gelaterias, 4 pastarias (ok, so I think I just made that up- they're not really called 'pastarias', but hey, whatever!).
Let's review the options shall we? Ok, you have pizza and pasta. Obviously. But also a variety of pizza and pasta-like foods, deviously and deceptively marketed under a different name. Panini, foccacia, calzone, altinbocca- all the same things I hate to tell you. Perhaps in different shapes and sizes, but the basics are the same. Dough, sauce, cheese- they LOVE their fromaggio. And (unfortunately for my arse!) I love it too! (Sorry for giving you that mental image, but it has to be said, 'cos it's true).
I don't understand how Italian women stay so, well, tiny!! Seriously, everyone here is skinny. Or at least average size. You'll be hard-pressed to find any Italian under the age of 60 (when they let it all hang out- literally!) who is overweight. What's their secret damn it???
Have they heard of salads, or any fresh fruit/vegetables in this country? Well, yes. But when you have the option of buying 3 pizzas for the price of a salad, what do you think anyone on a budget would go for?? Yeah. That's right. BRING ON THE PIZZA!

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