My Life in Italy

A few years ago I moved to Rome, Italy, with my mother and step-father. We decided to move because my step-father wanted to be in closer contact with his family, and my mother had always loved Italy.

I enjoyed my time there, and it was a sad day we moved back. I had many more friends, and I used to go out daily with them to the beach, amongst other places. It was a totally different lifestyle to what I lead now.

I lived outside the centre of Rome, a place called Guidonia. It was a small little town set out in Rome's countryside. The people were pleasant, and there were many bars and shops; so you never had to go very far. I used to get my breakfast from a local bar just around the corner from the apartment we were renting. A usual breakfast consisted of a cappuccino, and a small pastry cake.

I worked in the centre of Rome, in the Hotel Fiume. It was a three star hotel at the time (now it's four). I worked at the bar with my step-father, and usually we'd end up watching television, because most of the clients were put off by the prices of the drinks, when they could go to a bar within a few minutes walk away and get the same drinks for a much cheaper price. It was an extremely easy job. The only difficult thing was getting there, which was a two hour drive away everyday and night. It was an extremely stressful journey in the daytime, as Rome's traffic is tremendously bad. We were lucky to get there without attaining a new dent in the van each day.

We moved back because of financial difficulties. My mother disliked her job, and had no means of obtaining another. We were lucky to get the jobs we got. The only reason we got them was because my step-father had worked for the firm (B&H Hotels) prior to moving in with my mother. We had lived there for over a year before returning to the UK, and it was an experience in my life which I shall never forget.