{April A-Z Challenge} The Letter I

I is for ... Italy

In 2005, my boyfriend at the time and I travelled through Europe on a whirlwind Contiki holiday exploring all the tourist spots.

(We fought every night, but loved every second of the trip regardless)

Europe is rich in culture and historical architecture.

1 of my favourite countries of the 11 we visited, was Italy.

Our tour guide (who turned out to be a South African) saw me reading the Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown) and recommended that I start reading the book when we travel through Rome as the tour covered many of the attractions visited in the book.

It was a fun journey. My photos could almost have become an illustrated version of the novel, as I read a chapter, I snapped a shot of the place that had been mentioned.

A mentionable place to visit in Rome is the Piazza Navona - once the site of a stadium where ancient Romans would watch the games.

The site features 3 fountains each displaying various statues of Tritons, Gods and the like.

The Trevi Fountain was a place I had always seen on movies and dreamed of visiting. Many visitors were couples holding hands and whispering to each other as they make wishes and declare their everlasting love for each other. I wonder how many of those wishes come true for the long term?

1 of the lesser known places I adored about Italy was the Torre Argentina Cat Sanctuary. They can be found inhabiting a sunken piazza; a spot where Julius Caesar was apparently stabbed in the back.

The sanctuary was founded by a former opera singer and has been the home to many abandoned and homeless cats over the past 20 years. 

We visited the kitties and found them all very friendly. They had no problem letting the tourists show them a bit of love in exchange for a quick photograph. 

Florence with its’ cobbled streets and gorgeous leather goods was a lovely city to visit. The small shop fronts and narrow streets almost had one believing that we had stepped back in time. A time where life was simple and bartering your handcrafted leather wares in exchange for a hearty dinner was the order of the day.

We also visited Pisa (not much to see besides the tower and the baptistery) and Venice. and of all the cities, it was my favourite - you can read more about it here.

Have you been to Italy? Where is your favourite European country to visit?