Italy - Rome
Hello!
First I must say that I love Italy! It is my favourite country in Europe and I always want to go back and explore. For now, I have been to Italy three times and I have not yet been disappointed and every trip have made me enjoy the culture and history even more. The first time when I travelled to Italy was with my mom and we went to Lido di Jesolo, that is a beach resort in northern Italy and is a holiday destination for thousands of people every year. As we usually try not to travel as typical tourist, we decided to spend 10 days in a resort because it is located closely to Venice. Everyone, who would like to have a relaxing holiday, but also enjoys the night-life and a lot of shopping then Lido di Jesolo is the perfect place for you! As well, they have a lot of pizza and pasta restaurants, which should be all you eat when in Italy. We spent a lot of time at the beach and soaking up all the sun, but other half of the vacation we were driving around and exploring. Because my mother has a architectural background, she was very excited to take a bus tour and see old historic mansion close to Lido di Jesolo. This is definitely something I suggest, because the resort city itself is built up on tourism, but outside is the real Italy, with expensive real estate and amazing history.
From Lido di Jesolo to Venice is about an hour. There are various ways how you can get there, but the most fun is to take a bus from the town to the ACTV ferry, which leaves Punta Sabbioni for Venice. Both busses and ferries run every half-hour. It is such a great way to get to Venice, because the gondola trip can be expensive, but if you take a ferry you can get beautiful views over Venice and can say that you have experienced the ride. Venice itself is breath-taking and unforgettable. We spent our days in Venice just walking around, taking all the little streets and trying to get away from the tourist, because it can be extremely packed in summer time, and could make sightseeing difficult. Truly experience Venice, go to a concert or sometimes they have classical performances in the middle of the main square - Piazza San Marco. It is a must to eat Italian food in Venice and visit pastries and shop for souvenirs. People, who love art find various of art galleries, but if not, it is just important to enjoy the vibe of such an historical city.
If you are already in Italy, there is no way you can leave before visiting Rome. There is so much to see and so much history that it could be overwhelming at first. Rome is a collage of piazzas, markets and historic sites everywhere you look. If the time is limited then there are couple of places I suggest to see such as the Colosseum and the Panthenon. It is crucial to see Trevi Fountain - make a wish and toss a coin. Other attractions, that I believe are important are the Spanish Steps and the Piazza Venezia. I think these are some of the main sights to see, but of course there are so many more places and visiting them all in one trip is a mission impossible! Try to walk through the city and enjoy the perfect cup of espresso and real Italian gelato like I did.
My last visit to Rome was in early spring, when it was a bit rainy, but it was planned, because I decided to go to Vatican. I have heard about the crazy queues to purchase tickets and I thought if I go before the tourist season I will be able to skip it. And I was right - I got to Vatican around 10am and waited in line just about 5min. The ticket to see the Vatican museum and the Sistine Chapel only cost 16€ and for students 8€ which I think is so cheap for what you will be seeing and experiencing. I strongly suggest that if you love art and want to take your time, look at the paintings and not be rushed, go to Vatican when the tourist season is over. I walked through the corridors alone, which I was told later that when it is crowded your are forced to keep moving. It was an amazing experience and especially the Sistine Chapel, which is painted by Michelangelo. It is said that to get the best view of the ceiling paintings, you should be laying down and because there were only few people inside, we were all able to do that.
It is difficult to write about Italy, because there are so many more great places I have visited such as Lake Como and Madrid, but this is a list of things that have emotionally moved me the most. I truly hope that you will be able to visit Italy yourself! I know my next trip will be to Sicilia.