Italy - Where My Heart Is
When I was 17 years old, I had the opportunity to travel to Europe and visit what has become one of my favorite foreign countries. I took a 10 day trip and visited Italy, Switzerland, Austria and Germany, but Italy was by far, my favorite. It is a part of my heritage and I couldn’t wait to get there to see and experience everything I’ve always heard about it.
One of the cities in Italy that we ventured into was Verona. Verona, Italy is known for two of the most famous lovers in the world, Romeo and Juliet. Also in Verona is a giant square which has many souvenir shops and buildings with unusual architecture. I very much enjoyed visiting the souvenir shops and found came home with some unique jewelry. While in Verona, Italy, I also was able to see the outside of the Roman Theatre. This theatre was once used for gladiator fights and is now used for operas and other shows. It was amazing to see how well preserved this arena was. I was very impressed with Verona as it was very clean and native Italians were well dressed. The restaurants were also top of the line!
The next Italian city I ventured to was the one I fell in love with. As soon as our “bus” (which was really a boat) stopped at the dock in Venice, I felt a sense of excitement and joy. I couldn’t wait to begin exploring! Venice, Italy is also known as the “City of Canals” and seeing it for the first time was just breathtaking. Of course, one of the first things that I did with my group was take a Gondola ride. That was one of the best experiences of the trip. The Gondola ride was a little less than an hour and in my opinion, it wasn’t long enough. I’ll never forget our Gondoleer who sang songs in Italian to us the entire time and made it a very enjoyable and memorable experience. The shopping in Venice, Italy is also plentiful! I highly recommend visiting San Marco Square.
One of my only regrets about the time I spent in Italy was that I did not make it to Rome. Rome, Italy is the only city in the world that I hope to have the opportunity to spend time in before I am no longer able to do it. Rome is extremely fascinating to me and the history and treasures that it holds is just amazing. I would love to be able to see the Colosseum, the Pantheon, and of course, to the Vatican to see St. Peter’s Square and maybe even catch a glimpse of the Pope.
To put it simply, Italy is just beautiful country. Besides the ones I have mentioned, there are other cities including Milan, Florence, Tuscany and Sicily and so many others on the map that I only hope I can find the time to travel to and experience to their fullest.