My sister and I travelled to Rome in the fall of last year and I’ve been contemplating my return since we got back from our trip! Needless to say, I’m quite taken by this Italian city. It’s every bit as beautiful as I thought it would be and I can easily see why artists abound here, there’s just so much inspiration everywhere. Much of the splendid architecture of ancient Rome can be appreciated to this day and exploring the backstreets revealed even more of its glory.

The plan was to take a leisurely stroll through the city and eat as much delicious food as we can. I love walking in cobblestone streets and discovering lovely little alleys as well. Rome just seemed to be the perfect place for all this. Here’s a tip – leave your heels at home, wear your most practical footwear and navigate this city by foot, you will not regret it!

Passing by Trevi Fountain, we were taken aback by the huge number of tourists. I tried to get an unobstructed shot and this is the best I can do. We will take the same route coming back, we’ll see if the crowd subside in the evening.

We arrived at the Colosseum in time to watch the sun set. My heart beat fast seeing the Colosseum for the first time and I could not contain my excitement as we got closer to it. I was in too much awe standing before an architectural wonder with almost 2000 years of history. We stayed here for a few hours taking photos, enjoying the view, and watching people.

We started heading back with the sunset behind us. From a distance, we saw these grand columns in the midst of a ruin. However, it was already dark so we just admired the Roman Forum from the road.

We went past musicians performing on the streets and painters creating artworks on our way back. How extraordinary talented the people here are!

I think there are more people coming in the Trevi Fountain at night so I only managed a same shot in a different direction as was earlier in the day. Haha.

I retired to bed that evening with increased respect and newfound love for Rome.

We left early the following day to explore Vatican City. The St. Peter’s Basilica is just a short walk from our hotel. The queue to get inside was disheartening though, hence we just wandered around the Square.

But we’re not leaving until we see the Vatican Museum. Oh, it is massive and the collections here are gorgeous. Of course, everyone knows this that’s why tourists flock here everyday. The queues are extremely long but thankfully I bought tickets online in advance which qualifies me to use the express lane. Another thing is there’s an allotted entry time on the tickets so I guess you have to be there right on schedule if you pre-booked your tickets.

The highlights of the Vatican Museum is the Sistine Chapel – a long journey from the entrance. There is a shortcut but, you’re in Vatican Museum, you might as well just take the longest route.

I didn’t mind looking up in extended periods of time as these ceilings are really admirable. I kept thinking of the amount of work and talent that went into creating an art like this and I couldn’t even begin to imagine.

I was not able to take a lot of photos as I just really like to internalise everything I see. But the Resurrection of Christ in the Tapestry Gallery is my favourite in the entire museum. Luckily, my sister took this candid shot!

Do you see how Jesus looks at you in the eye? Not only that, he will follow your gaze even as you walk far down the hall. It’s the magic of artistic illusionism. Amazing!

Taking photos in the Sistine Chapel is not allowed, I can only tell you that it is a really impressive work of art housed in a humble chapel.

What welcomed us out is this masterpiece of stairs!

But probably the highlight of our trip is finally experiencing authentic Italian food. We hit some of the best pizzerias recommended by locals and everytime, we left feeling very satisfied. I don’t think I’ll eat pizza and pasta in the same way again.

I noticed too that Italians love bonding over a meal. It was truly fascinating watching family and friends enjoying food together. One time, a group even invited us to join them in their table and it turned out they were good friends with the owner of the restaurant. I am extremely grateful to not only discover delightful food during our travel but to also experience the great Italian hospitality.

The food here is terrific I’d come back to Italy if only for this.