Rome, a city over 2,000 years old, described in six words: old stuff, more old stuff, and pasta. It really was fabulous, the awe I felt in being in the place where civilization begin, a place so full of history. It was a little overwhelming, having so much to see so close together and so little time to see it. My first stop after getting to my hostel was the Coliseum. The people at the airport had the foresight to give my directionally challenged self a map, and so I found the metro station and took it to the Coliseum. I wasn’t prepared for what I saw. Right there, in front of me, the building I had seen in so many pictures, a building that has seen the rise and fall of an empire. I was duly impressed. The same day I toured the ancient city, wandered among the ruins, and made an appearance at Saint Peter’s Basilica. The second day it was more ancient Rome in the Pantheon, the Baroque Period at the Fountain of Tervi, and Christmas Market at the Piazza Navona. I sat on the Spanish Steps and drank an espresso near the Castle of Saint Anglo. The last day I went with two people from my hostel to the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel.
The where I was (half the time I didn’t know) and what I saw (my next project is learning about all the things I saw. My art history education leaves much to be desired), I feel are less important than the impressions I got of Rome. In no particular order:
-Feeling like a tourist is expected there. Romping through the city, I feel I saw very few actual Romans whose jobs did not involved the tourist industry. The whole city felt a little empty of citizens, the few bars there were full of people speaking English, the cafes and restaurants catering mostly tourists. I have asked people I met about this, and they for the most part the citizens do not live in the city center, but rather in the suburbs.
-The city is old, the streets are narrow with no discernable layout. Its fortunate I generally don’t mind being lost, because even with my map I spent a lot of time really, really lost.
-It’s strange the things that made an impression on me. For instance, I felt very little in Saint Peters Basilica, mostly a mild distaste for the concept of using religion to build an empire. In the churches I found not religion, but only marble, cold and unyielding. I know that my personal bias may have something to do with this.
-However, things that did make an impression on me: the grace of the marble statues, beautiful in their forever frozen state. Also how simply OLD things were. Seeing buildings that have been standing before the Common Era. Trying to imagine myself in the year 70 BC and thinking about life in Ancient Rome is humbling.
It was an amazing trip, one I’d gladly take again. For now though, I’m happy to be in Sweden, to see my friends, and to have a jolly good Christmas.
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