Lists

Things I'm Obsessed With In Rome

1. Walking- I haven't taken public transportation since I got here, and have just walked everywhere, from school to the center (the Forum, VE, etc.), up and down the Gianucuolo, and all around Trastevere. I saw the Pantheon from the top of the hill yesterday, so I have a pretty good idea of where I'm headed tomorrow.

2. Roman Water Fountains- I talked about them before, but seriously, they're becoming a problem for me. I leave the house every morning with two full water bottles in my backpack and by the time I get to the fountain at the end of our street, Via Mamelli, I have to fill one and then take a few sips from the fountain for good measure! I just love the fact that this city will provide you not only with cool things to look at and tasty food, but cold, delicious and FREE beverages at any time of the day or night, no questions asked. Moral: they rock my world.

3. Breathtaking Vistas- Seriously, this one you can't escape from. Rome is a hilly city, and I happen to live at the base of and go to school on the highest hill there is. Meaning I haven't gone more than a few hours yet without having to stop and appreciate the grandiosity of the city and the mountains beyond. It takes a little more time getting places when you're practically required by the view to admire it, but I'm willing to eat the few minutes I spend gaping like a fish.

4. Foliage- I've never ever been to a place where oak trees and their deciduous brethren grow in the very same soil, right next to gigantic weird looking pine trees, which in turn share the same square footage with palm trees! It's insanity. Rome is a paradox of botanical life, from the leafed trees that are, in early September, starting to lose some of their leaves, to the verdant oasis, indeed Eden, that I found today (which conveniently enough is right across the street from AUR) in which not only are all the trees still green, but some of the vines are alive with crazy fuschia flowers and little purple violets grow around the fountains. It feels like September but it looks like May. My northern Northern Hemisphere sensibilities don't understand this, but I love it nonetheless.

5. Art- Please refer to above posts and explanations involving Vulcans for the full extent of this one. Need I say more?

6. Pizza- Duh. You go into any of the little pizzarias which positively infest Trastevere and can get a delicious hunk of homemade foccaccia with fresh cheeses and delicious succulent veggies freshly cut and baked and wrapped in a walking-ready piece of parchment specifically when you order it? Yes please.

7. People Watching- It's fun to see if I can differentiate between the tourists and the Romani, but also to observe how different the vibes are at different times of day. Life here, and the activities which make up that life, are certainly regimented based on the time of day, and I'm beginning to understand that better from watching people. Hopefully I'll soon fall into that rhythm once I have a real life here instead of just a front row seat.

8. Roman Pick-Up Lines- If these guys know you're American (which they do... it's like they can smell it on you, no matter how much you might try to fit in) they'll use these insane pick up lines like: Ciao, Bella. You want to ride on my Vespa? The sad part is, thanks to Roman Holiday and the Lizzie McGuire Movie, that probably works more often than it doesn't.

9. Centrally-Located Housing- I'm not in my apartment very often, but it's nice to know that it's just a short walk from everything that I'm going to repeatedly want to make pilgramages to. We're only about twenty minutes on foot from the center, and I can't imagine, once I know how to get there, that it'll be more than an hour by foot to the Vatican. More on that estimation once I've tried the walk. Also, it's only ten or fifteen minutes to school. Granted, all of that is uphill, so I am always a little more sweaty than I would like to be, but who cares? I'm here to see stuff, and that doesn't include the back of the bus seat in front of me.

10. Twilight- No, not the movie, not the book. Screw vampires, actually. The time of day. It's kind of a magical time of day everywhere, but here, when I'm sitting in Piazza S. Maria and just watching all the people just beginning to come alive for the night while the sky becomes this really beautiful (and if you were an artist in 15th Century Florence, super spendy) lapis lazuli color, it's so peaceful and so contenting that I just can't help but look forward to it each afternoon.