ROME

[Since all roads lead here, find the one that leads straight to the beauty at its heart. Ride your Vespa and discover Rome, the city of splendours. Nestled among the seven hills that jealously guard it, under the watchful eyes of the stone lions of Piazza del Popolo and the maternal gaze of the Capitoline Wolf, the Eternal City proudly and haughtily flaunts, at every viale and vicoli, and on each of its countless piazzi, its marvellous adornments and enticements. Gardens, galleries, palaces, domes, fountains… each takes us back to the Rome of the Caesars, the Rome of the popes, the Renaissance of the Borgias and the Medicis, the Baroque explosion. Rome, this beautiful, millennia-old grand dame, invites you on a journey through the centuries. Walk with her from the Coliseum to St. Peter's Basilica, through the gardens of the Villa Borghese to the Trevi Fountain. Stroll with her in this open-air museum, where the soft, golden light is reflected in the dappled water of the fountains, over the gleaming statues of Bernini and Michelangelo, and the ancient marble covering ever surface, thousands of years old.

Don't, however, make the mistake of only seeing Rome as a setting of secular splendours. A scent of dolce vita fills in the air, and you will quickly realise that the heart of a lively Italy beats here, vibrant and festive. Trastevere, the favourite area of trendy urbanites and young fashionable families, delivers on quaint folklore, with laundry drying in windows above small trattorias whose culinary wonders are more often to be found among the daily suggestions than on the written menus. Mixing with the cheerful locals will introduce you to the city's customs and traditions—like its white wine, Lazio. Romans are like their city: fine and delicate in their manners, but sometimes revealing a spicier, sharp-witted and more insolent side. Rome, the mysterious and mesmerising Prima Donna, has more than one trick up its sleeve to charm those who seek to discover her.