Congrats, Cohen!
Will you be traveling exclusively in the upper north? If you have time/ability, you should get down south. As a teen, I lived near Naples for two years. Too young for anything but the occasional glass of homemade (green unmarked bottle, who-knows-what blend) wine but the best eating I've ever had in my life. Tomatoes grown in Vesuvian soil, fresh mozzarella di bufala, squid and octopus... God, just amazing. Northerners will give you the usual litany concerning the south (corrupt, lazy, stupid, lazy, dirty, lazy), but it's still a worthy experience. Southern Italians are fantastically amiable and generous people, by and large.
No matter where you travel, gorge on everything. Everyone has their homemade foodstuffs and are usually quick to offer a new acquaintance a try. Fuck yo' belt. Have a blast!
