Italy

Visiting a foreign country is a unique experience. But reality rarely overlaps with expectations. However, if reality does not meet your expectations, it is still worth living through the experience.

A country that I would like to visit is Italy. All my life I have been hearing stories about its charming atmosphere and its glorious history.

This boot-shaped country has grabbed my imagination. It is amazing that while in Sicily and Sardinia beach-goers are basking in the sweltering sun, mountaineers in the Alps are still enjoying the fresh nip in the air. Italy is celebrated as the country of flowers, which suggests that both the beauty of its nature and implies an added romantic touch. As to the people – whether Italians are romantic or merely passionate is a debatable point. They are notorious for their “boiling blood” which finally boils down to passion, either in love or in vengeance. It is not by chance that Romeo and Juliet lived in Verona.

As an ancient country Italy is proud of its history. Julius Caesar is the epitome of the power and majesty of the Roman Empire, whose territory extended from the Danube to the Nile and from the Atlantic Ocean to the Black Sea. However, its augustness was doomed as it was undermined by corruption. From the ruins of the Roman Empire a new culture sprang. It flourished in spite of the pressure the Catholic Church exerted while trying to suffocate any libertine inclinations. But it could impede neither the mission of Galileo Galilee, nor the prolific art of Michelangelo. Italy became the cradle of Renaissance. In the middle ages a pleiad of brilliant musicians contributed to this image. To me Venice is the sanctuary for the romantic atmosphere of the past.

Having treasured its patrimony the present-day Italy is an appealing country. It’s fame may well be exaggerated, but I still wish I could visit it, for I believe that nothing beats the experience.