My MIL and her Italian second generation American boyfriend visited Italy a few years ago. He was not impressed.
Italy, he said, was dirty and corrupt. They were forced to purchase toilet paper from a men guarding the entrances to restaurant’s restrooms. The sauces were so thin they “weren’t Italian”, and everywhere it was dirty.
In short, he was disappointed.
That is a mistaken idea many Americans have, misunderstanding the basics of Italian cooking. They never promoted thick tomato-pasty sauces. Their pasta and/or pizza sauce is basically olive oil with garlic and a few chopped tomatoes and/or other vegetables thrown in, sautéed rapidly and very fresh. It's delicious and less caloric, by the way, than the thick, cheese-laden American pasta and pizza sauces.