…I’m sorry I just couldn’t help but include that horrible pun in the title!
Anyway, it’s been a few days sine we’ve been in Rome and oh-my-gosh have we seen a lot/ oh-my-gosh we still have so much more to see! Although we have two months to sight see while we are here, we want to get most of the “touristy” stuff out of the way so that we can really live here and not feel like tourists for two months. After all the walking we’ve done, my shoes have pretty much molded to my feet and I may or may not have a stress fracture in my foot, but on the bright side we’re burning off all our mozzarella, pasta, and wine calories!
We have visited the Colosseum, Palatine Hill, the Roman Forum, The Pantheon, Castel Sant’Angelo, Piazza Del Popolo, and St. Peter’s Church in the two days of sightseeing we’ve done so far. We’ve seen other sights along the way: different squares and piazzas and we also stood at the entrance to the Vatican museum, hoping to see the Vatican and Sistine Chapel, but it turns out you need to buy tickets online ahead of time for that. Whoops!
We were amazed at the history of Paris while we were there, but it is almost incomprehensible to imagine the history in the city of Rome. It’s been almost a sort of exercise for me to think about the age of the buildings here and the history each structure has seen! Just walking down the street, you are surrounded by ruins hundreds and hundreds of years old, where the emperors and philosophers you learn about in 6th grade social studies class once stood! The pure history that is so eminent everywhere in this city has been mind-boggling to me.
The history is then seriously contrasted by the modern, stylish people who now occupy the streets of Rome. By the way, it is so easy to tell the difference between Roman tourists and natives. The people who actually live here dress so nice; the women are always wearing heels (I don’t understand how they do it! Most of the streets are cobblestone!), the teenage girls are all decked out in Brandy Melville, and the men all have unrealistically perfect facial hair. Observing the everyday life that now takes place in this ancient city has been really fascinating to me- probably because I’ve always been a secret fan of people-watching (you’d be lying if you said you don’t like people watching too). But one of my favorite things that we’ve done so far was when we visited the Piazza Del Popolo and just sat in the center, at the bottom of the obelisk and took in our surroundings. There were teenagers with their backpacks on- probably just hanging out after school, mom’s taking pictures of their kids on the statues, kids riding their skateboards around; it was as if the history was just a normal part of everyday life for them, something that they don’t even notice anymore.
It must be fun to live in a city so rich in culture and history. If I were to suggest anything to someone planning on visiting Rome, I would tell them not to miss the major historical sights, but also don’t miss the places where current, everyday life happens (Not that anyone reading this is necessarily seeking my advice anyway). But I feel like when people think of big cities like Rome, they just think of the historical aspect of the city and forget that people actually still live there! It is really amazing how such historical places can become integrated into a modern culture.
If you can’t tell from my enthusiasm, I absolutely love Rome already! I really cannot wait to spend 2 months here living in this beautiful city!
PS. Pictures of some of the places we’ve visited should be displayed in my picture gallery on the right side of your screen, so take a look at some of the cool places we’ve been if you’re interested!
Ms. DeMarco 
“If I were to suggest anything to someone planning on visiting Rome, I would tell them not to miss the major historical sights, but also don’t miss the places where current, everyday life happens…”
This is so true! I lived in Rome for two years (half of that time with my Roman husband and his whole, extended family), but, before that, while doing my last year of high school I had to do all the historical stuff. And, yes, like you say, it’s beautiful and interesting and wonderful – but after 2 years, I grew to hate the Pantheon.
xLoJu
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