The Wanderful Life of Jasmine : My love affair with Italy

I've been to quite a few Western European countries, but there's just something special about Italy that I can't get over. I have a constant desire to return to this beautiful country and rome (no pun intended) along the cobble stone streets, eat delicious gelato, while admiring the beautiful architecture (as well as the handsome men).

My love affair with Italy started last summer when my sister and I traveled around Europe during my last two weeks there. We took a train from Belgium to Switzerland and finally to Rome in Italy. We stayed there for 4 days, which was enough time...but not enough time. My sister and I managed to visit all the touristy spots in Rome but after 4 days, we weren't ready to leave.

The weather in Rome was very hot in July. During the day, we felt extremely tired walking around in the heat but we pulled through and still managed to visit a lot of the beautiful sights in Rome. It wasn't until the evening time though that we really started to enjoy Rome. One of the most beautiful sights I've seen is the Colosseum at sunset.

While Rome in the evening is beautiful, Rome at night is quite magically. Most of my fondest memories of Rome occurred at night.The first night in Rome we managed to meet a local Italian that offered to show us around. He led us to the Spanish Steps as well as the absolutely breathtaking Trevi Fountain. Walking around Rome at night was definitely a lot more enjoyable because we didn't have to face the scorching sun.

Cheesin' with the cute dessert

The second night, we went to a nice Italian restaurant. We were served by a very friendly Italian who surprised us after our meal with a dessert plate, that had a flower drawn in chocolate, even though we had decided not to order dessert off the menu. After finishing our little dessert, we asked our server to
recommend us a place to go dancing. He pointed to a place on our map and we headed out to find it. After walking for a while and not seeing it in sight, we gave up and decided to grab a table outside at this Italian pub. We sat there drinking our Italian beers and chattered among ourselves. An hour later we had befriended the two Italians sitting at the table next to us, one of which was the owner of the pub.

The third night out, we returned back to the pub since the owner offered to take us out dancing. We met a few more Italians, one of whom was named Francesco, who was incredibly charming and easy on the eyes. Francesco was honestly so handsome that he'd probably get kicked out of Saudia Arabia if he ever went there for being too good looking. He spoke nearly perfect English and rambled to us about everything from Italian culture to his views of the US. Francesco drove us around the city and we ended up at a karaoke bar. It was such a fun night even though I absolutely detest karaoke.

For our final night in Rome we returned back to that nice Italian restaurant. We were warmly greeted with the charming server we had two nights before. After politely declaring that we would not be ordering dessert, the server surprised us again with an even fancier dessert than the other night as well as limoncello drinks. Our server,who turned out to actually be the restaurant manager, offered to take us out dancing after the restaurant closed since we weren't able to find that place he recommended the night before. We took up his offer and soon headed out to the discotheque (club). Considering it was a Wednesday night, the place wasn't very packed. However, there were enough people there for it to be a fun night. We spent the night dancing away before our 6am flight to Paris. At the discotheque, I met another Italian who was coincidentally named Francesco as well. After an hour or two of dancing, we headed outside to get some fresh air. We walked down the street to the beautiful Trevi fountain. It was still breathtaking the second time seeing it. Now, unlike the other

Trevi Fountain at night

Francesco, he spoke almost no English. So as we stood beside the Trevi fountain, he opened google translate and typed whatever he wanted to tell me in Italian and translated it to English on his phone for me to read. Since I don't know Italian, I took his phone and google translated what I wanted to respond with in English for him to read in Italian. As odd as it sounds, it was probably the cutest conversation I've ever had. An hour later we headed back to dance some more before my sister and I had to return back to the hotel to pack for our flight out of Italy.

I don't know what it is that makes me adore Italy. I suppose it's a combination of beautiful scenery, amazing architecture, delicious food, and locals that are equally charming as they are handsome. My sister remarked that even the Italian police looked like models...