24th January 2016
Rome is the eternal city, with thousands of years of rich heritage and awe-inspiring architecture. It’s a city which emanates passion and culture; an exhilarating spectacle. Every street of the Italian capital pulsates with life yet welcomes us envious and curious tourists with open arms. This is the ideal destination for inquisitive historians, enthused artists, old-fashioned romanticists and any lover of pizza. It’s even better than Domino’s.
I’ll start with the obvious selling points. Rome has some stunning architecture, literally ‘round every corner. Many of the buildings are imposing and grandiose, with ostentatious opulence and splendour. Others present a more subtle beauty; they’re modest and, although sometimes overshadowed by their more enormous superiors which will grace the cover of guide-books, they’re equally breath-taking. You can really sense how intricately the city was constructed and, quite frankly, I’m not surprised Rome wasn’t built in a day! Some of my personal highlights include the infamous Collosseum and Trevi Fountain, but almost all of the buildings seemed to have a story to tell which provided truly fascinating experience.
Do I even need to tell you how great the food was? It is a mandatory activity to indulge in as many portions of pasta and pizza than you assumed physically possible from the moment you set foot in the city. Eating in general is one of Rome’s many great pleasures and the combination of gorgeous al fresco settings and superlative home-cooked food is guaranteed to leave you craving more once you’ve (unfortunately) retreated home. There are a number of refined restaurants for five-star fine-dining and locally-sourced wine, but for a truly Roman experience seek out the capital’s boisterous pizzerias and convivial neighbourhood trattorias. These establishments are where you’ll find the locals tucking into thin, crispy pizzas and humbly delicious pastas, topped off with cool white wine from the nearby Castelli Romani hills.
Rome is also the gate-way to Vatican City; a walled enclave which is the smallest internationally recognised independent state by both population (just 842 – including the Pope!) and area. It has incredible religious significance and is home to some of the world’s most beautiful architecture, despite only being 110 acres in area.
I loved walking around this beautiful city by foot and getting tangled in the web of bustling backstreets, accompanied by the rich aroma of freshly ground coffee. The background music to Rome is the passionate cries of the locals who, with their notoriously gruff humour, appear to have an opinion on absolutely everything. Though Rome is known for its thousands of years worth of heritage, the city remains a contemporary hub for culture, art and a dolce vita lifestyle. I guess it’s safe to say that I have definitely left my heart in Rome.
Thank you very much for reading, I really enjoyed re-living my trip to Rome and I hope you did too! These pictures were quite old (hence the graininess) as they were actually take on my visit to Rome in 2012. With a bit of TLC and the magic of editing they’ve come out quite nicely and are a great reminder of how much I love the Italian capital. This is an entry to the GetMyGuide #ILeftMyHeartIn competition, which you too can enter here. Have a lovely day and, until next time, goodbye!
By Jack Edwards