Take me back. That’s all I’ve been thinking all day prior to this, as I’ve slogged through nearly ten hours of work – take me back to my carefree vacation days in Rome. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to travel back in time? Or better yet, to have the ability to make it move as slowly when we’re enjoying life as it does when we’re bored?
If only…
Since that’s just a dream, the closest I can get to a return to Rome is looking at photos from our trip. I took so many on my iPhone alone that my Deleted folder is overflowing with hundreds of duplicates. (Let’s not even discuss the state of my iCloud storage.) I scroll through the snapshots I’ve kept periodically, particularly when I need a pick me up. They’re all beautiful. Rome is among the most picturesque places I’ve ever visited, even though it probably doesn’t make the top five on my list of absolute favourite cities. It was almost impossible to narrow down a selection for this post, and honestly, I didn’t do a great job. There are way more photos here than I would normally share at once. Many of you probably won’t make it this far because of that. But I loved them all. I couldn’t choose.
That’s a bit how I feel about favourite cities. After Paris and Athens, I can’t decide. Even though most cities, Rome included, are imperfect, I can find enough to love in all of them to want to stay forever. The Italian capital, it won’t surprise you to know, is no exception. Even if forever wasn’t possible, I would have happily stayed in Rome another nine days, taking long walks in the sun, eating pasta at almost every meal (except the ones where I ate pizza instead) and ending every afternoon with an Aperol spritz in a scenic location. It was bliss.
The last time I visited Rome, before this trip, was in 2013. We were living in Paris at the time. It was my second trip in less than a year, because travel between European cities is so quick and easy. And because I loved it so much on my first visit, which I took with a friend, that I needed to take Ian so he could experience it, too. Since then, I’ve often felt pulled, almost compelled, to go back, but the timing and prices have never been right. So when affordable airline tickets came up earlier this year, it felt like a sign. It was finally time to make our return.
That second trip I took with Ian is all a bit of a heat-induced blur – we visited in August, which isn’t really sensible unless you can afford an air conditioned hotel room. (Spoiler alert: At the time, we definitely couldn’t.) But I remember my trip before that vividly, especially the beauty of the city. Rome was the first place that made me regret not being a better photographer. There were so many breathtaking sights all around me, just waiting to be captured, but I didn’t know enough about my camera to do them justice. My vision of how I wanted to photograph the city was clear. My ability to execute on that vision, however, was limited. On this visit, I finally got to make it come to life.
It was unquestionably worth the wait. These iPhone shots are just the smallest selection from our trip. I’m so excited to share more very soon. But in the meantime, I hope you all enjoy the beauty of Rome in these photos as much as I do.
