This is my first trip to Italy, and it's quickly become one of my favorite destinations since I started travelling around Europe.

First up, Rome. Coming from a tropical island in southern China, Rome had only ever existed for me in a few sentences from history books and daydreams. I'd heard so many stories about it—in my mind, it was always this eternal city, quiet and perfect. On the express train from Leonardo da Vinci Airport into the city, passing ancient Roman drains and crumbling walls, I felt for a moment like ancient Rome was just within reach. We stayed at a Airbnb near the Obelisco Lateranense—great transport links and lots of restaurants to eat downstairs (there's a restaurant nearby that serves Guinness, really good food and friendly staff, would recommend). We spent three days in Rome, visited the Colosseum, the Vatican and all the main sights, but sadly didn't make it to the Pantheon, which was one of the places I was most looking forward to. So I'll definitely be back.

Pic 1: Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II

Pics 2 & 3: The Colosseum

Pic 4: Really tasty tripe, close Ponte Sant'Angelo

Pics 5 to 7 are from Florence. We got there by coach—not exactly punctual (but then again, I'm used to that from living in the UK), but cheap and pretty comfortable. Florence is known in Chinese as "翡冷翠Feilengcui", a poetic name given by the modern poet Xu Zhimo, combining the Chinese characters for "冷cold" and "翡翠jade". But to me, the city has hardly anything to do with either—almost all the rooftops are warm shades of light yellow to pale red, and apart from the detailing on the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore and the Central Market, there's really not much green around. I guess that's why this translation has mostly fallen out of use—it's a bit misleading (though you have to admit, it is a beautiful name). Short on time, I only visited the Cathedral of Santa Maria (ok I'm an Assassin's Creed fan, so I've already climbed this one loads of times...), the Accademia Gallery (finally saw David!), and the Basilica of Santa Croce. A pity I didn't make it to the Uffizi or up to Piazzale Michelangelo for that iconic view of "Firenze" that Xu Zhimo wrote about.

Pics 5 & 6: Santa Maria del Fiore

Pic 7: "The Annunciation", love it

And of course, Pics 8 to 11 are Venice! This time we took the train straight to Santa Lucia station—super convenient. My impression of Venice was shaped by its history as a thriving mercantile republic during the Renaissance, and of course, *The Merchant of Venice* (plus all those news stories about it sinking...). It's undoubtedly a beautiful city—the canals, the sea, the elegant yet understated architecture—but I have to say, my experience there was just okay, especially when it came to restaurant with rude and unwilling staff, which really put a dampener on things. Still, doesn't take away from its charm completely.

Pic 8: A book from Libreria Acqua Alta—loved the cover

Pic 9: Gondolas shot from the bridge next to the Doge's Palace

Pic 10: Basilica di San Marco

Pic 11: Taken from some bridge (can't remember the name)

All in all, Italy has so much more to offer—there are still so many places I want to see and so much food I want to try. Reckon I'll be back next year for my annual leave.

Photos from 5 days in Italy 🇮🇹