We all know that Italians love to talk. It may be friends discussing soccer at a café, an elderly woman sharing stories at the market, or a businessman passionately debating politics over an espresso, it doesn’t really matter: conversation is at the heart of Italian social life.

This is also why Italians are known worldwide for their expressiveness, their ability to turn even the most mundane topics into lively discussions, and their use of hand gestures to punctuate speech. Their love for conversation is well ingrained in the country’s history and, in some ways, we can connect it to the development of modern diplomacy, which, fittingly, was born in Italy.