Connecting the Dots: Rome... Yeah, it's Impressive!

On my first day in Rome, I was meandering down a busy street simply marveling at the enormity of the city when I passed an unassuming, dated building. What drew my attention however were the expressions on every person that walked out of the large doors--they looked like they had just experienced something remarkable. As I changed courses and turned away from the flocks of people following my initial route, I did not anticipate the awe that awaited on the other side of the doors.

I carefully opened the right door and walked into a “small” entry to a church. When I slowly continued my escapade around the open corner on my right, my heartbeat skipped as I took a miniscule, but immediate breath of air. The intricate magnificence that resided in front of me literally made my body react before my mind had actually processed what I was observing. My pace moved from a careful deviant to a desperately slow crawl as the magnitude of the building, paintings and sculptures overwhelmed my physical presence. The meticulous complexity and attention to detail that had been carved and painted was absolutely incredible. Every square inch was ornately created by someone long ago.

I added a few photos of this specific church (there are MANY more hidden gems in Rome) and even those cannot come close to generating the feelings experienced when walking through these beautiful marvels.

My Thoughts on Rome:

The sheer size and ornate details all across Rome was unexpected. I remember part of its history from school, but I never expected to be marveling continuously at building after monument after fountain after church after etc. There were multiple, painstakingly detailed objects on every street. Rome is a city that needs to be experienced in person both during the day AND at night.

Some experiences from the road...

I am not completely proud, but the amount of time I spent deciphering the distorted packaging to determine if I was about to buy a bran muffin or a chocolate one was noticeable. The good news is…I had a chocolate muffin with my yogurt for breakfast that morning. Score!

Most foreign labels are clear enough to roughly choose the correct option. Sometimes however, your choice is slightly off. One such example occurred when I was shaking what I thought was juice. I was actually setting up a volcano experiment. My bad…

One final story before the photos:

I am sitting on a virtually unfilled Metro car on my way home (11:45 PM), staring at the floor, lost in thought, and only glancing up to see the inch by inch progress of the Metro toward my stop. About four stops before mine, a rather unsettling individual boarded, his music broadcasting so the entire compartment could marvel at his taste. No more than 15 seconds later there was a brief reprieve of noise as he decided a new song was in order.

Then it happened. The unmistakable introduction. Ba badadum ba ba dum. Ba badadum ba ba dum. I knew the tune immediately, but it was so utterly unexpected I struggled to believe what was happening. The lyrics began…

I come home in the morning light

My mother says when you gonna live your life right

Oh mother dear we're not the fortunate ones

And girls they want to have fun!

Oh girls just want to have fun!!

I desperately, but completely unsuccessfully, tried to not laugh. Fortunately, his exit at the next top provided the green light I needed to laugh out loud. It’s the little ironies in life that can provide the best laughs.