The Close of the Roman Empire

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[youtube=5wO7i4uskQI]

Wow. Rome is closed on New Years Day. It has shut down pretty much all but its heavily touristy areas and souvenir shops it seems. This fact may be an indirect result of most of the city's population staying up until 4 AM and beyond to ring in 2008. I'd want to sleep all day too if I saw the first sunrise of the new year; however, I was impressed with how clean the city was the next morning. The clean up crew was working relentlessly from what must have been a formidable hour of the morning until it was back to normal. I only saw a few plates broken in alleys or firework remains.

Regardless, having only half of Rome available was kind of a bummer on our last day in town. And I still needed to do my shopping for my family, which did not end up happening. Most of the day was spent retracing familiar streets and visiting places for the second time. I realize I've been here less than a week, but I can honestly say that it is such a nice feeling to walk around a city and still be in awe of it, but to not feel the urge to whip out a map every few corners you take. That's not to say that we know where we are all the time; it's still fun to take new streets and do a bit of exploring. That's how we found Santa Maria Maggiore on our walk home. But overall with Rome being so walkable, and the fact that we've walked a lot... well you can put two and two together.

I've noticed I'm taking less pictures too, which I hope is an indicator that I'm feeling more at home here rather than feeling bored. I definitely think it's the former; in other words, instead of constantly feeling like I have to capture Rome's immense beauty on film, I feel since I'm becoming more and more familiar with the buildings and streets and sounds even the more it makes a lasting impression on my mind. It's great to live Rome instead of to just be in Rome. But, still, do I know Rome? No. But does anybody really know Rome? Interesting question.

We haven't had a lot of contact with people here. It's pretty much just been Keith and me. Having our own room at the hostel has definitely isolated us in terms of branching out. It's been nice to have essentially a cheap hotel room, but part of what I love about going new places (abroad or not) is the interaction between yourself and the locals or local travelers. Part of the reason we haven't had that here either is the language barrier; for that reason it makes it hard to stop on the street and talk to a stranger for a few minutes. I hope next time I'm here I'll either know more Italian or be fortunate enough to meet some new people, and I'm really starting to dislike that about myself. I find that I always say "Next time..." when really, there shouldn't have to be a next time for some things as simple as meeting people. But at this point, as far as Rome is concerned, I have to say next time because tomorrow we get on a train and go to Naples. Which, should be an adventure in itself. A girl at the internet café that we frequent told us about the trash situation in Naples. When she said this, I soon remembered reading an article a few weeks ago about the lack of trash pickup in Naples and how the people, unsure of what to do with all the buildup of trash, have taken to burning the trash... which invariably leads to toxic fumes in the air. Not a good situation overall, so on top of all the horribly pessimistic things I've heard about Naples, it should be interesting to say the least.

So it's with great sadness that I plan to leave Rome. If I were leaving for say, Prague or Paris or London as opposed to Naples perhaps I wouldn't be as sad. Months before I embarked on this trip, my dad and I were talking about traveling in one of these "philosophical" sessions we have. He's a huge influence on my views of the world and especially views on travel as he has done a lot in his lifetime. Paraphrased, he proposed that the firsts in a person's life, such as falling in love for the first time or visiting a place for the first time or even entering a new, distinct phase of life, are just that much more memorable because of that "first-ness" quality of it. I haven't thought about that discussion until now, preparing to leave my first European city and in my mind, my first real city abroad. It has been so much more than I expected it to be. Rome has been a love affair within me. And so it will always hold that special part of my life. I love that because despite all the other places that might have been a more obvious first choice for me (France or South Africa, perhaps), Rome has been perfect for me. It's constantly moving and pulsating with this unique energy, but doing so within this sort of inlaid track that it's been digging for millennia. It has so much more identity than anyplace I've been (New York included), and yet at the same time is rejecting that identity and pushing its boundaries (which by the way is somewhat of an allegory of where I am in my life). I thought I had read up on Roman and Italian history before arriving in Europe. While knowing the text behind an era or a ruler is important, it is nothing compared to actually being there and just letting the history soak in you and to invade your whole thinking process. There is nothing in a book that can tell you a story of an individual column or block of stone set in an Emperor's monument long before it was ravaged and ruined in a change of identity, and then left to withstand countless more eras of changing, volatile identity. There's nothing you can read, even here on a site dedicated to travel, that can express the thrill you get when you're almost ironically run over by a siren wielding ambulance, the seemingly millionth you've heard that day. And most of all, no matter how many times you recount your adventures to people you meet along the way, there will always be experiences that are beyond the capabilities that words and language can describe that can only remain in your memory and the way you live your life, or view life.

And yet that's what you get to see and ponder when you're there. Walking around Rome, you get to feel everything: modernity and historical prestige, pronounced beauty and understated grace, sophistication and crudity, globalization and local traditions, disregard and welcome, religion and sex. Its nuances are virtually impossible to recount, and everywhere you are stimulated by something original and still vaguely familiar. And while you're there, you want to be engulfed by the city and crack through to the core of it, though it's so hard sometimes because let's face it: you're in Rome. But just being there, taking in what you can is all you can do, when in Rome...

Oh, to be in Rome...

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Photos

Oh Mr. Nutella Donut man, how happy you are...
Piazza Navona, Rome

I am clearly enjoying my chocolate covered apple
Piazza Navona, Rome

My wish? To come back to Rome soon
Throw two coins in the Trevi Fountain to ensure your return to Rome!