Going to Italy has always been a dream of mine, going with my best friend made it all the better. It all started in early 2019 when two 14 year-olds met in art class after one of them asked the other for a pencil in São Paulo, Brazil and we’ve been inseparable ever since. Being in an international school, we were aware that our time together was limited, that one of us would eventually leave the other to go to another country. So, we’d sit together and daydream about all the things we’d do after finding our way back to each other.
To our surprise, we ended up not only graduating highschool in the same country but also going to a university in France and our dreams of travelling the world suddenly became a possibility.
The first thing we did was visit and explore each other’s cities. I’d go to Lyon whenever the pressure of law school would get to me and he’d come to Paris whenever he wanted to taste new pastries for a project. Our first year of university was thus concluded within the French border, with us seeing each other every month or so, to both our families’ shock. We’d comfort each other about the racism and prejudice we faced whenever we could. Nobody expected us to end up in the same continent upon graduation, let alone the same country. We had both picked our futures seemingly at random, a last minute decision that ended up being both the best and worse of our lives.
We started planning trips with a determination we didn’t have before. This wasn’t just a pipe dream anymore, it was on its way of becoming reality. We started saving money in June of 2024 and in April 2025, we finally had enough money to spend an entire week in Italy! With a cup of tea in hand, I sat down next to my best friend as he spoke on the phone with his father, trying to figure out if the dates we had picked out were good enough. Once we got the OK from him, I called my mother to ask her the same thing and got the OK as well and we bought our EasyJet ticket, reserved our beds in the hostels, made a list of non-negotiable places we wanted to see and screamed in glee at the thought of making the dreams of our 14 year old selves a reality.
The weeks passed in a flash and suddenly, I found myself at Orly Airport at 5 in the morning, 3 hours early for my flight and brimming with excitement at the thought of being in Rome in just a few hours. I got on the plane, put my headphones on and started reading This is How You Lose the Time War, an amazing book that I simply devoured. I finished it within the first hour and a half of the flight and spent the rest of my time crafting the perfect playlist to match the book.
Once I landed in Rome, all I had to do was wait for my friend, who landed 2 hours later. Together, we took the train to the city center (almost forgot to validate our ticket), then walked 15 minutes until we found our hostel. I put our belongings in the same cubby before locking it with my padlock and we started exploring. We’d only be in Rome for two days so taking things slow was never an option. The first thing we did was find something to eat and so, we went to the overpriced, albeit delicious restaurant next to our hostel and shared a plate of ravioli with ricotta stuffing and a pistachio cream and stracciatelle sauce and a plate of caccio e peppe pasta. While the portions were small, they were incredibly filling.
Afterwards, we walked around the city to see some landmarks like Ulpia Basilica, the Victor Emmanuel II monument, the Piazza Venezia and the Piazza della Madonna di Loreto which were all breathtaking. We made our way to the Pantheon, unfortunately not making it inside due to the long line (we did take a quick peek before leaving though). Afterwards, we walked to the Saint Ignazio De Loyola church, a beautiful monument with paintings so well-preserved they transported me back to the seventeenth century. We stayed inside for about thirty minutes, trying to take it all in. One thing I’ll give the Catholics is that their churches are simply chef’s kiss, gorgeous, can’t get enough of them.
At night, we went to the Trinita dei Monti which was beautifully lit and sat down at the Spanish stairs, finally realizing that this was all real, we had made it to a point in our lives where we had managed to not only travel together but enjoy it. Please let this be my advice to you for if you ever plan on travelling with a friend: have the same definition of travel. My friend and I had agreed that we would stay in the cheapest place possible and that we would only use public transportation if it was absolutely necessary beforehand. Do not, under any circumstance, travel with someone who wants to stay in the hotel by the pool-side all day if you’re the type of person that likes to go out and stay out all day long because your friendship might not survive it.
When we went back to the hostel at around 11PM, we put our pyjamas on and got ready to sleep only to be shaken awake by the snores of our roommate, which were so loud I had to take a video while crying in the dark to send to my family, because I couldn’t believe it. It was a nightmare, I threw a sock at my friend to wake him up as I refused to suffer through this alone, only for him to go back to sleep five minutes after (boo!!). I put my headphones on, figuring it wasn’t the guy’s fault that he was snoring since he doesn’t have control over it, only to receive a message from my headphone app not to wear headphones on a busy street. I disabled the warning feature and went back to listening to my nature sounds. I only slept for 2 hours that night.
Our second day and last day in Rome was incredibly busy. In the morning, we went on a tour of the Colisseum, Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum which collectively took around 6 hours, all of which were worth every second. It was incredible to see thousands of years worth of history, to stand in it and imagine what life would’ve been like back then. One second, I was someone sitting at the Colosseum, cheering for my favorite gladiator, the next, I was the gladiator, facing 3 hungry lions, ready to fight for my freedom, the next, I was a salesman, selling popular gladiator’s sweat to fangirls as an aphrodisiac. It was exhilirating!
Our next stop was the Vatican which should’ve gotten its own, dedicated day. We got there right before closing and had to basically sprint to the Sictine Chapel. One thing we both disliked about the Vatican was that we couldn’t skip to the Chapel immediately, it took us around 2.5 hours to get to it because we had to go through several other rooms with no option to skip them, which is understandable as many people consider the Sictine Chapel to be the “main attraction” which causes an influx of people, which I am sure damages the art in some way. However, because of this, I would recommend to come early in the afternoon or dedicate a whole day to the Vatican so that you can enjoy all the rooms without the fear of not being able to see the Chapel before closing time. Unfortunately we were only able to stay in for 15 minutes because of this reason, which is on us, we should’ve done more research before coming.
At night, we went to have dinner with one of my friend’s friends. Afterwards, we got on the wrong bus, realised it 20 minutes in after we weren’t even in Rome anymore and had to wait 30 minutes for the next bus to come in so that we could go to the Trevi fountain. By the time we got there, it was 1AM. The fountain was gorgeous, way bigger than I expected, and surrounded by influencers. If you want a picture of yourself alone with the fountain you should really go either really early in the morning, really late at night or get really good at editing. Afterwards we went home to sleep as we’d have an early bus to Naples to catch the next day.
Our first day in Naples was spent walking along the coast, being shocked at finding an O’Tacos outside of France and exploring every nook and cranny of the city. We had delicious sweets as well as a fried pizza which was to die for, I crave it every now and again but since I don’t own a frier, I am unable to satisfy my craving. Perhaps I’ll be able to have some again next year, who knows?
On our second day in Naples, we decided to go on a day trip to beautiful Sorrento with its beaches perfect for playing mermaids and cliffs that give you the best adrenaline rush you’ll ever have. We spent most of the day swimming in Bagni Regina Giovanna and Saint Salazare’s Cove. The water was turquoise and the perfect temperature to swim after a 20 minute hike, I still remember how fast I rand towards the water, shoes flying as I struggled to undress so as to get in the water as fast as possible. After swimming for a bit, we decided to sit on rocks like the mermaids we are in order to bask in the sun. Next to us were Turkish tourists talking about how happy they were to be there, I smiled to myself as my friend whispered “look, it’s your people” at me and we listened in on their conversations, with me translating the gossip (Aysu, if you’re reading this: Elif wants your girlfriend).
After our swim, we went into the city craving a sweet treat. We stopped by a gelateria and shared a lemon sorbet inside of a lemon. Gimmicky for sure, but delicious nonetheless, and honestly: I’m a sucker for a tourist trap. After our sorbet, we had lunch at Ristorante O’Murzill, I had pasta with a tomato and burrata sauce while my friend had a seafood pasta. Who says lunch says dessert right after which is why we then bought a frappé, I got pistachio and he got a fruity mix, both were excellent.
The next day was my friend’s birthday and to celebrate, he wanted to go on a food tourism tour around the city so that’s what we did. Tired of Italian food, we went to a chinese restaurant called Ristorante Senti Profumo where we shared a plate of green beans, mapo tofu and sichuan chicken. It was a nice change from all of the pasta we were eating and unfortunately, there aren’t many food options for people that don’t eat pork (me) or beef (my bestie) in Italy and since we love sharing our food, that’s what we were limited to. Afterwards, we walked around town again, had a 3 scoop, massive gelato for 3 euros (France could never) and celebrated the fact that my friend wasn’t a teenager anymore.
The next morning, it was my birthday and what I wanted to go was to go to Pompeii. I put on my best outfit, cried a bit at the fact that I was no longer a teenager with my friend laughing about buying me a cane in the background and went to the train station. Once we got to Pompei, we got ourselves a map of the city and chose exactly where we wanted to go. Unfortunately, neither one of us knew how to read a map so we were completely and utterly lost on our quest to find the famous masturbating man of Pompeii. While we didn’t manage to see this magnificent man, we did see many other sites such as the bath houses and brothels, which left me with a pinch in the heart. Seeing all of these people, frozen in time, it’s so weird because you can’t help but wonder about the lives they’ve led, what kind of people they were, whether they were scared in their last moments or if they knew that that fateful day would be their last. It’s truly an experience I would recommend for everyone that visits Italy.
We didn’t do much on our final day, we went on the hunt for the best pizza in town as we realized that besides fried pizza, we hadn’t eaten any pizza since we had gotten to Italy, which we both agreed was unacceptable. We went to Gino Sorbillo where the pizzas were not only huge but also delicious. Afterwards we walked until we found the Pulcinella Bust whose nose I rubbed three times for good luck on my oncoming finals (it worked, I passed) and afterwards, we headed to the airport where we parted ways.
Italy was a dream, going with my best friend and being able to celebrate our birthday together as we had always done made it infintely better. I hope we’ll be able to do it again in the near future. Until next time!
© 2025 C. H. Gökdemir. All rights reserved.
Cece: Unfiltered 
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