Rome

We love to travel – I guess that much is clear by now – and so, to the horror of my mother (“you are going away – again???”) we took off for Rome the day after Christmas.  I have been to Rome before – more years ago than I care to admit during the equivalent of my senior year in high-school.  I loved Rome.  Loved it with all the enthusiasm and undying devotion of a small town girl spending time in a big city – with her friends, not with her parents – for the first time.

But besides the delicious freedom to do stupid things (like piling into a Fiat 500 with six people, three of them guys we had just met) there was something more profound about Rome that attracted me, geek that I was even then.  The fact that you turn some random corner to stumble over a column 2000 years old or a fountain – if not by the great Bernini himself so at least by one of his more talented students – history was ever present, real and tangible reaching from classical times throughout all of European history.  Rome ever after had a special place in my heart, a place that no other city could touch – not Paris with its grandiose architecture, not London with all its wonderful museums, not Prague that seemed so unbelievably authentic and different back then when it was still the capital of Czechoslovakia and not San Francisco – beautiful city that it is but so devoid of history that reaches further back than the early 20th century.

Therefore it was with some trepidation that I went to Rome – would it live up to the standard, would it still prove to be special?

I am happy to report it did.  It is a marvelous city, a place so full of history that just walking around feels like a history lesson without the tediousness.  Despite being a big city Rome can be explored by foot if one doesn’t mind a good hike to work up an appetite for pizza or pasta later.  Walking through the narrow streets, turning a corner and finding oneself of one of the many piazzas small and big, unknown or world famous is what makes the Rome experience so special. I am partial to the antique Rome rather that the Catholic Rome and so the Colloseum, Forum Romanum, the Catacombs and Ostia Antica where high on our list.  Despite that focus on the antique it is impossible to not be in awe (and scared of) of the wealth and power displayed by the churches, especially St. Peters.  It brought me a little closer to begin to understand the power the church held – and to some extend is still holding – over ordinary people and how frightening and unreachable its higher ups were and how much the church dominated life down to every detail.

But despite all this, the churches at every corner there is an undeniable joy in life that I have – during my formative years – come to associate with southern countries, esp. Italy.  It’s noisy, a bit chaotic, the buses go when they go (instead of every hour at 07, 22, 37 and 52 mins as they would in Germany) and I am glad I don’t have to deal with the bureaucracy there – but they sure know how to make ice-cream!

I come back from Rome still in awe so many years later, frustrated by too many tourist but with the definite plan to go back in the not so distant future during off-peak season.

Here are some pics from our trip.

150 ice cream flavors – we couldn’t resist even though it was cold

Caracallas therme – lovely and impressive and blissfully few tourists

The underground of the Colloseum

Vestia temple at the Forum Romanum

inside St. Peter – doves, sign of peace, everywhere

Forum Romanum

Free New Year’s concert at the Spanish Steps. Singing the National Anthem.

Ostia Antica – and amazing glimpse into life in Rom 2000 years ago,

New Years parade – Indian bag piping group from London

St. Peters

Swiss Guard protecting a Pope who with his controversial statements and message of poverty and humbleness needs protection more than many before him.

 

 

 

 

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