by Andrew J., Chapel Hill, NC
Lots of people have a favorite place to visit. Some people like the beach, and some people prefer the mountains, and some people like to go to restaurants and museums. But lots of people love to visit other countries. Countries can have much bigger things, like buildings and mountains and cities. They can have different food, weather, and languages. Visiting different countries allows you to have a fun and unique trip. One of my favorite places is Italy because of the food, art, and landmarks.
When I went to Italy, I ate a lot of good food. On my third day in Rome, I ate at a restaurant called Cybo. I ordered a lasagna. The lasagna had three layers of cheesy goodness. The meat was perfectly cooked and the pasta was just the right texture, soft and it melted in my mouth. The tomato sauce was a bit sweet and flavored the cheese. It was perfect. The next cool restaurant I went to was in Venice. I ordered a fisherman’s platter. It had ruby-red tuna, crispy shrimp, and calamari. It was my first time trying tuna. It was really good. It was seasoned with lemon and came with tartar sauce, which I loved. A couple days later, I went to Naples. I went to a pizza place and it was the best pizza I ever had; this place was the top 0.79 percent of all the pizza places in Italy. I ordered Chef’s Pizza. It had a thick crust but was super thin in the middle, which made the cheese really stand out. The pizza had the perfect amount of toppings and it was delicious. Everything in Italy was super duper tasty.
I saw a lot of cool art in Italy. First, I went to see “The Creation of Adam” in the Sistine Chapel. It was super realistic. I liked how Adam’s hand droops but God’s stays extended. My tour guide said it represented free will, because Adam could choose to touch or not touch God’s hand. Later, I went to the Galleria dell’Accademia to see a statue of David. It was also super realistic. His eyebrows were angled, as if he was getting ready to fight Goliath. He had a sling across his back, loaded and ready for combat. The last famous painting I saw was in the Uffizii gallery. It was called “The Birth Of Venus”. It represented Venus, the love goddess, being born from the ocean. She is surrounded by the three seasons,Thallo, Auxo, and Carpo (Spring, Summer, and Autumn). Her long, beautiful hair flows down her back, almost like the ocean. All the art was super beautiful.
When I was in Italy, I saw a lot of famous landmarks. A landmark is an object or place that is easily seen from a distance and represents great things. I went to the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City. From the outside, it looked normal, but on the inside, it had beautiful frescoes, such as the Creation of Adam and The Last Judgment. After I went to the Sistine Chapel, I went to the Colosseum. The tour guide was super cool and I got to have a fake duel with him at the Colosseum. The Colosseum was a giant battle arena with massive arches and grand pillars. It was a masterpiece. The next landmark I went to was the Campanile di Giotto. It was an old bell tower that was super tall. My brother and I climbed the 400 steps and recorded it. We pretended that it took days to get up. The video made us laugh. The view was very nice from the top. The last landmark I went to was the Leaning Tower of Pisa. My Brother and I recorded another video of us climbing it. We rotated the camera to make it look like the tower leaned way more than it actually did. All of the landmarks I visited were a whole lot of fun.
I love to go to Italy because of the food, art, and landmarks. Italy has super good pizza and lots of famous pieces of art such as The Creation of Adam, and The Birth of Venus. It has famous landmarks like the Leaning Tower of Pisa and the Campanile di Giotto. Now that I’ve been to Italy, I’d like to go somewhere else and eat some food. All that talking made me hungry. Chinese food would be good – maybe I could go to China! Booking my flight now!