traveltoestwoArrivederci Roma
July 7th 2008 06:26
Who ever wants to say goodbye to a fascinatingly beautiful city such as Rome?
I had to… twice…
While I was only there for one day on the first trip, I experienced some of the most important parts of Italian culture. I visited the Trevi Fountain, I squeezed my way through the sales along Via Condotti, I circled Rome on the hop-on hop-off bus and I sat in Piazza Novona sipping on a café latte.
As I left the Trevi Fountain, I couldn’t refuse the idea of throwing in a coin. Even though I knew that I would be back less than a year later, who can escape the temptation of taking part in such a tradition?
Sure enough, just over seven months later, armed with three girlfriends and a pretty good map, the train pulled into Termini Station. We wandered into our pension before immediately dropping our bags and heading out. Our first full day in Rome saw us hopping-on and hopping-off the bus several times as well as circling the city at least twice.
Rome in a day is a tiring venture. We knew that we would be back to all of the places we had seen that day, yet it is almost impossible to leave after just a glimpse. We had photos in front of the Colosseum and aimlessly wandered through the Roman Forum trying to grasp the history of it all. We headed to the palace and up to the balcony, overlooking the space where Mussolini’s captivated audience stood. We manoeuvred our way through the busy streets towards the pantheon, walked along Via Condotti, sat on the Spanish Steps and finally, we made our way to the Trevi Fountain. Devouring our gelato, we people-watched as the sun set before making our way to Piazza Novona for dinner but not before agreeing that we would make a conscious effort to visit the fountain once a day.
The next day we headed to Vatican City. We stood in line surrounded by tour groups, nuns and school children for almost two hours before finally finding ourselves inside St Peter’s Basilica. We made our way to the top of the dome, which boasts 360-degree views of Rome. Learning about the Sistine Chapel is nothing compared to being in the room. Talking is prohibited, as is taking photos. However, it’s exceptionally obvious just how many people turn off their flash, pretend their camera is off, point the lens at the ceiling and click. I know I did it.
Sure enough, that night we found ourselves back at the Trevi Fountain, devouring gelato… this time from another ice-cream shop.
On our third and final visit to the Trevi Fountain, once again, I turned my back, tossed in a coin and walked away.
Arrivederci Roma… I know I’ll be back soon…
I had to… twice…
While I was only there for one day on the first trip, I experienced some of the most important parts of Italian culture. I visited the Trevi Fountain, I squeezed my way through the sales along Via Condotti, I circled Rome on the hop-on hop-off bus and I sat in Piazza Novona sipping on a café latte.
As I left the Trevi Fountain, I couldn’t refuse the idea of throwing in a coin. Even though I knew that I would be back less than a year later, who can escape the temptation of taking part in such a tradition?
Sure enough, just over seven months later, armed with three girlfriends and a pretty good map, the train pulled into Termini Station. We wandered into our pension before immediately dropping our bags and heading out. Our first full day in Rome saw us hopping-on and hopping-off the bus several times as well as circling the city at least twice.
Rome in a day is a tiring venture. We knew that we would be back to all of the places we had seen that day, yet it is almost impossible to leave after just a glimpse. We had photos in front of the Colosseum and aimlessly wandered through the Roman Forum trying to grasp the history of it all. We headed to the palace and up to the balcony, overlooking the space where Mussolini’s captivated audience stood. We manoeuvred our way through the busy streets towards the pantheon, walked along Via Condotti, sat on the Spanish Steps and finally, we made our way to the Trevi Fountain. Devouring our gelato, we people-watched as the sun set before making our way to Piazza Novona for dinner but not before agreeing that we would make a conscious effort to visit the fountain once a day.
The next day we headed to Vatican City. We stood in line surrounded by tour groups, nuns and school children for almost two hours before finally finding ourselves inside St Peter’s Basilica. We made our way to the top of the dome, which boasts 360-degree views of Rome. Learning about the Sistine Chapel is nothing compared to being in the room. Talking is prohibited, as is taking photos. However, it’s exceptionally obvious just how many people turn off their flash, pretend their camera is off, point the lens at the ceiling and click. I know I did it.
Sure enough, that night we found ourselves back at the Trevi Fountain, devouring gelato… this time from another ice-cream shop.
On our third and final visit to the Trevi Fountain, once again, I turned my back, tossed in a coin and walked away.
Arrivederci Roma… I know I’ll be back soon…
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