Italians are obsessed with their health and weight too. Every family meal I go to everyone discusses how many KG they weigh ( I keep silent being the overweight UK size 14-16 person in the room) and how fat so and so has become. It's also perfectly normal here to tell someone they are overweight to their face too.
They also are very temperature conscious, it's nearly 20 degrees here at the mo, everyone is still in winter coats, scarves ( for fear of death by cold air) although I confess I also feel the cold now after living here forever, we still have the heating on too.
Cleaning is high up there too, houses are spotless inside and scrubbed from top to bottom often. I see pillows and duvets hanging out of bedroom windows to be aired most mornings
As someone else mentioned, regional and cultural identity. the country is very much split between North and South too.
Food & Wine. My MIL asks every night to ask what we're eating ( yes DH calls his parents every day) I still haven't forgotten the day I bought my in-laws Champagne (Why have you give us French wine?) and Spanish oranges (why would I even consider buying foreign fruit?)
Lunch is a big thing every day & we go out as an extended family to eat every Saturday or Sunday lunchtime.
August. Yes the month, this is the time when everyone goes away. There aren't half terms here, so it's a big deal, many of my colleagues have the entire month off, schools get three months off. Businesses close for a couple of weeks too. The biggest bank holiday of the year is 15th August, so the week it falls in is the week most things are shut and it's the busiest & most expensive week for going away. As an Italian you'll either go to the Mountains, Sardinia, Calabria, Puglia or Sicily. No where else exists! 