When in Rome....

St Peter's...the jewel in Rome's crown....

Sophia Loren and Daniel Day-Lewis in "Nine", set in 1960's Rome....

A great shot of Castel Sant-Angelo and the Arno....

The Trevi  Fountain is so stunning that I think it is just impossible to capture its beauty on camera.....nestled amongst narrow streets, you turn a corner and it's there right in front of you.....an exquisite and breathtaking work of true passion....its size is just incredible....

The view of the basilica of St Peter's.....just wonderful....

The clarity and colour of the Sistine Chapel is amazing....

The Spanish Steps....

Marcello Mastroanni....in one of his most famous and iconic movies, Fellini's "La Dolce Vita"....when the famous Roman actor died in 1996, the Trevi Fountain was swathed in black fabric and the water stopped as the city mourned....

 

The Pantheon....still the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome....

The Colosseum....

...and inside the Colosseum....

Rachel is a designer who, with her husband, moved to Rome last year....she writes a blog about her life in Rome.....Inspiration in Italy... every day it is full of the most beautiful images of the city.....I have yet to read it and not wished that I was living there!

Seeing "Nine" last week once again reminded me how beautiful Rome is....it is impossible not to fall in love with such a vibrant and stylish city where around every corner is yet another stunning sight and where history seems to ooze from every brick.

My first ever trip to Italy was when I was 19....I was spending a year studying in France and during our half-term break, we took the train to Italy where we spent three days each in Venice, Rome and Florence - we had an amazing time. Florence was the city I loved most during that trip and it wasn't really until my next trip

to Rome, many years later with my husband, that I really fell in love with Rome...although bizarrely, on that trip my husband hurt his back and I spent most of the time exploring the city alone. On our most recent trip, my children were 18mths and 5 - and the airline lost not only our travelcot but also our buggy which made for an interesting and challenging trip!!

Rome is a very easy city to get around and if you have a pretty good sense of direction, you can easily find your bearings. I love to walk around cities rather taking public transport if possible, I think you get a real feel of the city and also you have much more chance of stumbling upon hidden gems and buildings that you might otherwise miss. The Romans are beautiful people, dark haired, dark-skinned, proud, expressive and extremely well dressed - Rome is honestly the only city where I have ever felt under-dressed! My husband (who is Italian but born in England) always says that you can tell a Roman immediately - there is definitely a real glamour and a drama about them.

My favourite piazza in Rome is Piazza Navona, perfect for people watching and where Borromini and Bernini's famous sculptures are found. You could spend your whole visit exploring the Vatican museums such is the wealth of art on display, it is just astonishing. St Peter's Cathedral is again one of those sights that really has to be seen to be really appreciated - it is so vast and so beautiful that you almost can't describe it, visiting it is truly an amazing experience. On our last trip we rented an apartment just seconds from the Trevi fountain....a sight so beautiful that it almost moved me to tears the first time I saw it. It is also the home of the best ice cream I have ever had :)

Maybe it's time to look at flights to Rome again....

Buongiorno e baci....