When in Rome...

...Go to Vatican City, get lost, see breathtaking sculpture and design, and wear out your shoes - you're in for a long walk.

Yesterday, I had a 19-hour layover in Rome, Italy from 1PM until 8:45AM this morning. It was the perfect amount of time for me to walk to all the famous spots and grab the last train to the airport at 10:30 that night.

My plan was simple: take the bus to Roma Terminis, then use maps to walk around to all the legendary sightseeing locations. I think the best way to get to know a city is to walk it. Lucky for me, European cities allow me to do just that. I was surprised at how quickly I was able to walk from one spot to another, even though the two locations looked far away on my phone map. Oftentimes, I found myself overshooting the street I was supposed to turn on, because I did not realize how short the blocks between streets are in Rome.

I started out by getting mango gelato at a street corner. It tasted amazing and cooled me off on the hot summer day.

This definitely had dairy in it, but I was not about to pass it up

After that, I began to make my way toward the Colosseum. Then, I saw the ruins of the old city, Trevi Fountain, etc., all that. As I walked the main streets to the first few locations, I began to feel drained by the mass of tourists surrounding me, blocking the view of the historical monuments, posing for pictures, and obscuring the Italy I felt was there underneath.

What you do not see in stock photos

I have never been a big fan of just walking around and looking at things. Now, if I'm with other people, talking about what we are looking at, or exploring the concept with a sociological or historical lens, then I enjoy it very much. This was the way I experienced different sectors of Beijing with a class (I will this post that story later). In Rome, however, it was just me walking to these places and staring at them in the midst of thousands of bodies and phones. For some reason, I felt ashamed by the lack of excitement I had with this type of experience, and I was (truth be told) a little disappointed. It seemed to me that Rome had become less of a place of rich history and more of a caterer to the money of tourists. The focus had shifted. This, I realized, was why I was not feeling as excited or in awe as I would have expected from myself as a lover of good architecture and sculpture. I began to wonder if something was wrong with me for feeling such a way! Here I was, in this beautiful city, my first stop in Europe, and somehow did not appreciate it as much as I should.

I found a solution - instead of following the main path to these points of interest along with the crowd, I meandered through the alleys and streets in between. I found beautiful doors covered in ivy. Tall, colorful buildings lined the thin, cobblestone streets. I saw locals taking out their trash, talking to one another. I passed by two people having a conversation on some steps. In short, I saw a little bit of the "real" Rome I was looking for in those monuments. I wanted to catch a glimpse of the lives of the actual residents of Rome, not get lost among its tourist population.

It was refreshing to take those alleys and see that difference, which made me more appreciative of the design I saw in the fountains and buildings surrounded by people. Looking at Trevi Fountain, I thought, wow, someone made this. It was not just something to see, to say I saw it. It was more than what it was. It was also people, the artists who created it. That, I thought, was what made it so beautiful. Having a look into the lives of Italians in the city and recognizing their place outside of the tourist world, I think, transferred to a recognition and appreciation of the artists and molders behind the famous pieces.

Prior to arriving in Italy, I had discovered online that Rome has a plethora of GF/DF food options. Using that information, I found Trevi Pizza, where I had the most amazing GF Seafood Pizza and a bottle of sparkling water. I highly recommend the food there!

It was beginning to darken when I decided to make my way toward Vatican City. The process of finding an entrance not blocked by the massive wall surrounding the county took quite some time, due to a combination of faulty directions from my map (which kept spinning around) and a security guard who did not speak much English.

When I found an entrance, it was already dark - but that was the best part about it. Seeing St. Peter's Basilica at night was incredible. The lights illuminated the stretch of cobblestone with such warmth that a feeling of peace washed over me. It was the perfect end to a day of sightseeing.

Walking around Rome was great, but I failed to bring the right shoes, meaning my feet were done for well before I even hit mile 8. Alas, I took the bus back after visiting my second country of the day. I needed to catch a bus back to Roma Terminis, then another to the airport. I left Vatican City at 8:45PM, and did not arrive back at the airport until after 11PM! First, the bus either came very early and I missed it, or it came very late, then I spent about 30 minutes trying to find Roma Terminis but my maps kept thinking I was going in the opposite direction. I barely managed to catch the last train to the airport that night at 10:30. I finally found the station and bought a ticket with 2 minutes to spare! Needless to say, I was quite stressed from having waited longer than expected, then gotten lost at night in a low density area while speed walking in circles on blistered feet. After getting off the bus, I ran back and forth through the airport, asking for directions to the baggage storage area from the train terminal and getting different answers. I finally got to the storage area ten minutes before it closed in order to get into a fresh set of clothing and wash up before *attempting* to sleep in the airport.

Although that last portion of my time in Rome was a bit stressful, I would say the experience overall was a success. A word of advice for those of you thinking about doing Rome in a day: do not rely on maps, and buy a 24-hour bus pass! I found out about this while frantically searching for my late bus online. It will save you money if you plan on bussing around, and it will save you some blisters if you get tired of walking. I also recommend turning away from the tourist routes and forging some of your own through the brightly colored streets of Italy.

A classic mode of transportation

One of the many public water fountains that run continuously

What I saw the most: colorful mopeds and quaint outdoor cafés!