Last weekend I visited Rome for the first time. I spent three busy days in the Italian capital, seeing lots of tourist attractions and walking down streets lit with Christmas decorations. Here are the things that I loved most about the city.
1) The History
Rome is one of the most ancient cities in the world and is full of wonderful relics from its distant past. These monuments include the Roman Forum and the vast Coliseum where gladiators used to fight each other until death and hunt exotic animals. The ruins of buildings and temples are fascinating: you can’t quite believe how old they are.
2) The Art
I studied the masterpieces of the Renaissance period at university and was very excited to see them in real life. We walked around the museum in Vatican City and saw plenty of famous sculptures. The best part of the visit was, without a doubt, the Sistine Chapel ceiling, painted in the early 16th century by the great Michelangelo. It was so breathtaking that I couldn’t tear my eyes away from it.
3) The food
In Rome, there is a lot of food on offer for tourists but some of it isn’t very good quality. I made an effort to find authentic restaurants to taste the popular meals of the region, like pasta with tomato, onion and bacon. I also loved eating ice cream and hot chocolate under the Christmas lights.
4) The shopping
Rome has lots of luxury boutiques but also plenty of shops that were more in my price range! It was a perfect opportunity to go and buy presents for my family and friends. There was also a Christmas market, where I bought a sparkly decoration for the tree.
I love seeing new places, especially capital cities. I have been very lucky this year because I also visited Amsterdam and New York in the summer. Hopefully I’ll get to travel even more in the future. I would love to see Prague, Budapest and explore other places outside of Europe. Where do you think I should go next?
Do you like travelling? In your opinion, what is the best city in the world?
