when in Rome....

Rome. with its impressively untouched ruins scattered haphazardly throughout the city (because anywhere else, these would have been flattened and turned into shopping malls at least five centuries ago), its beautiful inhabitants and their animated expressions, and its impossibly tasty italiano cuisine, Rome stole my heart within the first day that I was there.

i really did love everything about Rome. in fact, so far it tops my list of most favourite European cities, maybe only next to little weedle Brugge, but Brugge is like a block compared to the city that is Rome, so that's hardly fair. But really, so many things about Rome just pure and simply blew my mind, including...

1) the ruins, big broken ruins, just literally scattered everywhere. instead of bulldozing it down, they build around it. and just when you think there aren't any more ruins, look! more! the Colloseum, Palatine and Roman Forum.. these hold so much history that it is so close to being unreal, but when you're there, you know it's real. And it is truly humbling.




















2) art... on the ceilings. and the sculptures. my general thought was 'how the f*** did they do that?!' ~ not just the Sistine Chapel but hundreds upon hundreds of other impressively painted ceilings, created by geniuses when they were in their early twenties. I don't only feel humbled, i feel down right useless.





















3) and the food. the food. savoury and sweet alike, i had enough to last me a week. each day started with a buffet breakfast at the hotel, followed by at least three or four gelatos, and numerous serves of pasta & pizza. piglet.





















my favourite part of the trip? probably having lunch right outside the Pantheon, but there are so many memories, squashed into three brilliant days.

more photos here. or did you notice i created a travel photo-diary strip just over on the left?