Rome, Italy

good pizza, 

good looking guys,

  good memories.

I found myself in Rome on the 2nd day of 2013 with a mint-chocolate gelato in one hand and a camera in the other. Next to me was Tuscany and her family, in front of me was the infamous Colosseum. I remember thinking to myself, this will be a good day.

Our first stop was the Vatican City. Zooming past infinite rooms of crazy-beautiful artwork and architecture, I kept my eyes looking up most of the time because the ceiling paintings were simply too exquisite. Of course, being neither an art-gek or a history-lover, after the 20th room we dashed our way out of the building, not even realizing Michaelangelo's infamous ceiling painting in the Sistine Chapel, which was the main attraction. Tourist fail number one. We then hurried over to the St. Peter's Basilica, which is easily the most beautiful church I've ever been to. Of course, we couldn't stop discussing about Pope-related conspiracy theories along the way. Tourist fail number two.

Making our way to the Pantheon (which to our disappointment was closed that day), we met a couple of guys dressed as gladiators. "Oh my God," Tuscany said as she took my camera and practically galloped over to them asking for a picture together. "Oh my God," I said as the gladiator placed his plastic sword against my throat. "Oh my God," Tuscany's mother said as the gladiator shamelessly asked for 5 euros in return for the horrible picture. Tourist fail number three.

After getting lost for the fifteenth time that day and abusing our paper map trying to read the difficult-to-pronounce street names, we finally get to the Trevi fountain. Yes, that one where Lizzie makes a wish and finds the Joe-Jonas lookalike popstar in The Lizzie McGuire movie. Of course, today wasn't the day to act like we're above dorky tourists. Soon we were scouring our pockets trying to find pennies to throw in the fountain. It was such a magical moment, despite how packed the area was with Asian people attempting to get a good coin toss selfie. Here's Tuscany's best shot!

Italian food simply cannot get better than in Rome. I challenged myself to always order a pasta dish with a completely unfamiliar name without asking the waiter what it was, only to find that every single meal in those couple of days was nothing short of delicious. I'm pretty sure I gained at least two kilos in those three short days, binging on creamy Vongole seafood pasta and oven-baked pizzas with crusts to die for. But hey, "This is real, authentic pasta" is the best justification for over-eating!

 

Our visit to the Colosseum was drenched in sunshine, something Londoners will never get to experience. We walked up and down the ruins, trying to imagine where the lions would be kept and where the Russell Crowes of that era would get ready before a fight. After that we hopped on a bus to Tivoli, a charming small town nearby. Again, to our dissappointment the famous Villa d'Este was closed, leaving us with nothing to do but explore the small roads, pretending like we're locals, even though that was our last day in Rome.

I think the best thing about this city is the fact that every where you turn, there's always something beautiful to look at. A couple sharing pasta Lady-and-the-Tramp style, brown leaves falling from a row of trees by the river, a golden-lit majestic church in the middle of the city. Rome taught me that getting lost is the best way to explore a new place, because you always manage to find unexpected memorable sights along the way. Rome taught me that history will never go out of style, and that the past can be one of the best things to revisit. Rome taught me to travel. To never lose that curiosity and hunger for new experiences.

And Rome taught me to dream.

That night, as I flicked my penny over my head and into the Trevi fountain, I wished for a memorable year. Now I'm pretty skeptical about these things. But writing this in 2014, I can assure you that last year was the best year of my life. Hands-down.