Rome

If you had to visit one city in the world, I would definitely recommend Rome. Steve and I have been traveling for 2 months and are getting slowly more weary of sightseeing but Rome still blew us away. It's got everything - important and magnificent historical sights; pleasant, walkable streets; and great food.

The Colosseum, the Forum, and other Roman ruins take up at least 0.5 square miles right in the center of the city. If you have a Western education you don't need to read a guide book to understand why they are important - you can just show up and appreciate their importance instinctively. They are well preserved enough that it's easy to imagine how they looked during Roman times.

From 200090415_Rome_Starred

From 200090415_Rome_Starred

From 200090415_Rome_Starred

From 200090415_Rome_Starred

St. Peter's Square and St. Peter's Basilica are incredibly grand, they make it easy to appreciate the importance and historical status of the church. The Sistine Chapel is covered in paintings and is marvellous, even to Steve and I who have historically gotten more entertainment making fun of art than appreciating it.

From 200090415_Rome_Starred

From 200090415_Rome_Starred

Rome is also a pleasant place to stay. It is full of old, narrow, streets and buildings with balconies, potted plants and loving personal touches. Most buildings are painted in shades of orange giving the neighborhoods a cohesive, traditional, Italian style. It's a fairly clean city, most of the sights are within walking distance or have good public transport links.

From 200090415_Rome_Starred

We were totally happy to spend 6 days in Rome, filling up our time with the Roman ruins, the Vatican, early Christian catacombs, great food, pleasant walks around town, and gladiator school! We've been out of Rome for at least 1 week now, and we continue to enjoy our travels, but I don't expect we will ever find another city that we can appreciate so effortlessly.