Coming at you live from Rome!
Rome has always struck me as one of the craziest places one can go, I imagined it to be a live action version of Disney’s Hercules (I know it’s Greek) with a bunch of Vespas and Smart Cars threading the needle at high speeds through endless crowds. The reality is kind of like that, but way more approachable. The center of the city seems to be in on the bit, meaning the architecture is all in alignment with warm tones and Mediterranean shapes. There are circles of grey haired men telling stories on the sidewalk and older women with sun baked faces, crossing the street in heels. I was anticipating swarms of people, but it’s relatively chill. I’ve seen Downtown Santa Monica way more crazy. I think we just got lucky, because May is just before tourist season kicks into full swing.
I landed on Friday morning, immediately sunk into the hotel bed and slept for an hour or so, then we ambled across the river to a little restaurant that a friend recommended. On our way we happened across an old ruin filled with a colony of cats; the perimeter is closed to the public so the cats can live in peace. The sky was scattered with whip cream clouds, that struck strawberry pink when the sun set. After dinner, we walked over to the Trevi Fountain (famously featured in The Lizzie Maguire Movie) and it was so beautiful, especially when you get up close to the stone. We arrived around midnight and it was still encircled by people but nothing too insane.
We walked up to the lip of the fountain, where a group of people stood on an outcropping of glistening stone spilling off the main event. By that point I was so tired the sky itself was melting, so I lay down on a smooth curve of rock, off to the side of the fountain. It held my spine perfectly and I let my hair drape over the rounded edge, so the cool travertine could touch my neck. I was staring directly up at the building behind the fountain, its classic ivory pillars and rectangular windows towering over my body. I could have fallen asleep right then and there, soothed by the dancing water and low murmur of fellow tourists. Off in the distance a whistle blew and Chris, who was standing near me, looked around as if we were the ones in trouble.