Rome is an absolute must-see in Italy! Read on for my favorite big attraction in the Eternal City.

The links above contain affiliate links, which means I get a few cents (at no extra cost to you) if you book or buy something via that link. This helps me keep costs down and posts up! All images copyright Teaspoon of Nose.

This is part of our month-long European adventure! 

If we talk about why I love Rome, I need to admit something first.

I’m a total history nerd. I love history, especially the classical stuff: Greeks, Romans, Egyptians. This is how much of a nerd I am: I took Latin in grade school. For eight years. Yes, for the first five, it was mandatory and I can give someone else the blame/credit for that. (Side note, I’ll be the first to admit that studying Latin helped me so much in English classes. But that’s not the point here, focus Emma.) The funny thing about studying a dead language is that you have no choice but to absorb a lot of the culture. Because the textbooks can’t talk about cars or technology or TV shows, they talked about chariot races and Roman baths and gladiators. We read mostly original texts: Cicero, Augustus, Ovid. So you pick it up even when you didn’t mean to. That, combined with the fact that I went to a middle school that really emphasized classical education means that I knew a surprising amount about Rome before I set foot in the country.

Therefore it shouldn’t surprise you that I lost my mind just about every time we turned a corner. The richness of what has happened here, decisions that impacted the world centuries ago, and buildings where people lived and ate and cheered and worshipped and debated, are still around for me to see and even touch! Mind-blowing.

Want some restaurant suggestions for your trip to Rome? I’ve got you covered!