His "Roman Elegies" were written in the Classic Iambic Pentameter. In his diaries he noted that he could see the Roman out of his apartment room. He was so thrilled by all things Classic that he composed a poem and beat our the meter on the back of his "courtesan".
He had a whale of a time and like all Northern Europeans of the period would head south for the winter fun!!!
I should know... of course there were his depressing moments too!
I wish I had read Italienishe Reise before I visited Italy. Nevertheless I saw much of the same thing except Sicily. Standard student tourism.