Technically, I have been to Italy before. After my first year of uni, I went to Sardinia for a few days in the summer. It was a ‘see nothing but the beach’ type of holiday which was desperately needed, but for that reason, I never counted Italy as a country that I had explored. After this trip to Rome, I can confidently add Italy as country number 21, (and 22, more on that coming), to the list.

We woke up bright and early for our first flight of 2024, headed to the hotel and immediately ventured out to explore. Our first stop was lunch, then the Trevi Fountain. Obviously, everyone has seen pictures and videos of the Trevi Fountain before but nothing prepared me for how huge and utterly stunninnggggg it is! We rounded the corner and I was genuinely in awe when I saw it. The almost pure white travertine stone tells the story of Oceanus, (apparently it’s not Neptune like everyone thinks), and the characteristics of the sea shown by the two horses. One of the horses that flanks Oceanus is tame and the other one is giving North Sea tiktok vibes. It used to be the point where the main aqueducts in Rome met and spat out drinking water, now though, the huge volume of water is recycled to keep it going. We grabbed a coin, made our wish and threw it into the fountain to come true.

In Italy, the festive period doesn’t end until Epiphany on the 6th January, so we meandered down the cobbled streets with their Christmas decorations still in full force to the Spanish Steps. Unlike the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps are wildly underwhelming. It’s literally just a staircase with hella people on it? I can imagine it’s a nice place to sit and people watch during the summer, and we managed to peep the sun setting just behind the dome of St Peter’s Basilica which was pretty. I would honestly say though, if you’re going to the Borghese Museum, then go via the Spanish Steps, if you’re not, then don’t bother.

Eventually, it was time to get ready for dinner and drinks, (an ‘Eating My Way Downtown’ post on Rome is coming and boiiiiii is this going to be a good one!). After just over 15,000 steps we called it a night to rest up in preparation for country number 22 the following day – Vatican City.