Try jogging in Rome. It’s impossible. Not because of the cobble stones, or the heavy tourist traffic, or because you’d much rather eat pasta instead. That’s just half the challenge. The real issue is that anywhere you turn, from the smallest corner to the tiniest back street lurks a monument, a church or other impressive “thing”. And you are forced to stop and be still. Or in my case: take a picture.

I only stayed for one night, and I tried to cover as much ground as possible, even if it wasn’t my first time there. I gasped as soon as I left my hotel across the street from the Piazza Venezia and saw the Victor Emmanuel II monument. And things only got worse from there. I visited the Pantheon – I was speechless – and the Piazza Navona, the Spanish steps and the Trevi fountain, that was covered under a big sheet of heavy-duty construction tarp but still attracted a massive line of camera-toting foreigners. I went shopping on the Via Condotti, had lunch on the Piazza del Popolo and a late night snack on the roof terrace of the Eden Hotel. (Oh, and try being a blonde in Rome…)

Rome will always be one of the most impressive cities in the world to me (after Jerusalem). Rome has so much history it makes you feel small and almost insignificant as a human being. Those Romans back in the day were miracle builders and engineers. And when you stand in front of their work, you wonder if we will ever be able to earn the same respect.