You really come away from a visit to Italy with a renewed awareness of how very young our country is.  We think "old" is one or two or three hundred years.  In Italy, for example, we ate at a restaurant in Rome that was decorated with frescoes on the walls and ceilings that were original 12th century! We even walked on parts of the Roman Roads built more than 2000 years ago! Now that's a might bit old, eh?!!