I went to Italy for the first time with my family 2 years ago. Everything from the warmth of the people, to the food, to the architecture, to the culture, to the weather was welcoming and enchanting.
Below are pictures from the Roman part of the trip. I'd never been south of France before, so experiencing southern Europe was eye opening, and it also reignited my reverence for history and different cultures.
My brother studied abroad in Italy and has made Italian friends. My favorite part of traveling is attempting to soak up the best aspects that I can experience in the shortest amount of time (I know that time changes perspectives, so things may appear one way and turn out to be another). Not that it isn't found elsewhere, but in Italy, there seems to exist a slower, more cognizant appreciation of the greatness of life: the savoring of food seeps into all elements of the culture, and I found that living itself was savored as well. This was an element that I've tried to keep with me, sometimes in the form of meditating and yoga, but also in refraining from beating myself up over being unproductive. It is beneficial to do things for enjoyment, even if they offer no end gain. This is a notion that I can occasionally forget in this fast paced New York world.
