It was love at first sight. It couldn’t be explained otherwise. They always say it happens when you least expect it.

Unplanned, unorganised, without introduction, completely new and I was intrigued by it. A love that excites you, rushes your blood and makes you imagine all the possibilities.

From the first ray of sun I encountered, reflecting from the picture-perfect facade, the city felt like a movie set. A paper town. Almost fake. I wanted to get to know it better, and it to know me better. I wanted to be a part of its stories and get lost in its mysteries.

I felt a sense of belonging that I had never felt before in my lifetime. It was meant to be.

I thought the honeymoon phase will fade away slowly, — after some seasons, after some rainy days — when the winter hits it will lose its magic. But this time it was different.

It wasn’t something that you could move on from easily.

With time, your love grows bigger. You become more dependent on it. Layers of the city go under your skin, into your thoughts, your daily habits. You discover every small detail, learn its ways, how to communicate with it, how to compromise for the love of it. 

I fell in love with Rome even more when I realised the scars behind its glory. How inspiring it is to have been through all and still stand magnificently. Calling it home makes you proud.

A city that is not easy to love if you go beneath the surface, not all the days are magic and sunshine. Sometimes it makes you sad and breaks your heart… but doesn't every lover?

The challenges of the city don’t bother me, it hums its own way. I am lost in its melody, in the murmuration dance of the birds against the orange-pink sky. 

Once you learn its soft spots, secrets, history, what it was before you; It is not about who you were anymore. It is about who you might become if you infuse yourself in this dream. All the possibilities that this love could shape you in.

The most beautiful part is that every day, Rome finds another way to remind you why you fell in love with it in the first place.