La Palazza Venezia

Wednesday morning I woke up at 4:00am. I forgot for a second why I was awake, and then remembered, oh yeah, I’m flying to Italy for three months. Wade (my brother) took me to the airport and saw me off. I flew with five people from the Italian program, which was nice. We landed in New York and I had just enough time to go to the bathroom and buy a $9.00 sandwich. The flight into Rome was difficult. The seats were tiny and crammed together, leaving just enough room for my legs. Sleeping was next to impossible, and I probably only managed to get 2 hours in. We landed in Rome at about 6:45am local time, went through customs, got our luggage, and were hustled by illegal taxi drivers before getting real cabs and entering the city. (a note to any future Rome travelers: only get in a taxi that says “commune di roma” or “commune di fiumicino.” The others are illegal and will probably make you pay out the you-know-what). The stereotype that all Italians dress nicely isn’t actually a stereotype at all, it’s completely true! Even our female taxi driver was dressed immaculately.
I share an apartment with 4 other girls in Via Baccina. The southwest end of our street dead-ends at the Roman Forum. A little bit further west is the Coliseum. We are in the Monti District of Rome. It’s beautiful here. Pretty much every street is made of cobblestones and is what we would consider an alley. They are tiny, and usually don’t have sidewalks. Being hit by a car here seems almost unavoidable. I’ve also noticed that everyone is wearing winter coats, despite the fact that yesterday it was in the high 60s and much hotter in the sun. I think Romans must be used to extremely high temperatures. I feel very underdressed in just a jacket.
On our slightly aimless wanderings yesterday, my friends and I stumbled upon the Trevi Fountain. The first thing I noticed was the crowd. The tiny piazza was completely filled with people. The fountain itself, though, was gorgeous. I was distracted from my ponderings by a man trying to give me a flyer about a pizza place nearby. I didn’t want any, I said, but of course he wouldn’t let up. He eventually stopped trying to sell me pizza and changed gears to “You are beautiful. Are you from Obama? What part of Obama are you from?” I decided this could become a very weird conversation and walked quickly away. By lunchtime, the girls and I were exhausted. We were laughing at stupid things so hard that we were crying. At 3:00 we had a meeting at the Rome Center that did not help our sleepiness. I was falling asleep whenever I blinked. We decided to scrap any plans of staying up until a decent hour and just go to bed. We were all asleep by 5:00. I didn’t get up until 7:15am.
This morning I had the best cappuccino, orange juice, and croissant I have ever had in my entire life. The juice had just been squeezed minutes before. The cappuccino was so amazing that I literally couldn’t put it down. And the croissant was filled with the most delicious chocolate. The only downside to it is that I won’t be able to enjoy an American chocolate croissant as much anymore. Our’s have those two small strips of hard chocolate down the center, while the Italian ones have thick, creamy chocolate packed inside that oozes out as you eat it. It took all of my willpower not to buy a second one for the road.
So far my favorite thing to do is start walking towards a destination, but don’t pay much attention to the map. Eventually you find yourself going in the wrong direction in the wrong area, but you discover so much along the way. My apartment mates and I did that earlier this afternoon and ended up having the most amazing lunch (risotto with porcini mushrooms, red wine, and some kind of coffee and gelato dessert) and then wound up at the Coliseum without even meaning to!
Looking at the Coliseum is one of the most thought-provoking experiences in the world. How they managed to build it, how advanced the architecture was, how incomprehensibly old it is, how incredible it must have been in the Roman days…I think the only other thing in the world that could come close would be the pyramids. It’s difficult to convey how strange it is to look at. It’s as if I’m staring at a massive page of a book that has been set up in front of me. Everything surrounding it is real, but the Coliseum itself isn’t.
I have already decided that Rome is a city everyone needs to visit before they die, and I’ve only been here a day and a half

written by  kalib on March 27, 2009 from Rome, Italy
from the travel blog: Guido Watch '09
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Kali,

Glad you made it to Rome. Sounds like you are amazed at the city just like I was. I am sure you will have a wonderful experience. Be careful and enjoy!

Uncle Dick

written by  Richard Sheehy on March 30, 2009

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