Here everyone should have a story to live
Rome It is the city where everyone should have at least one story to live, to remember, to tell. It carries with it a perfect palindrome and seen from a mirror it becomes love. Did those who gave it its name do it on purpose?
You are in Rome and you are not alone, you are accompanied by its temples of lost faiths, its sleepy ancient stones, the reflections of the Tiber River and the thousands of ownerless cats that meow freely through the streets.
It will seem to you that all their ancient gods are watching you and protecting you, from a cloud in the shape of Luperca, the she-wolf that suckled the twin brothers who founded the city. And it may be so. Rome welcomes you with its caldera-orange facades and small interior courtyards decorated with pots of a thousand different greens and the occasional classic statue.
Its orange facades and its thousand different greens
Condemned to be eternally beautiful, Rome is also a universe of its own. With its everlasting Italian airs is able to release the most unknown and uncontrollable sensations overly sensitive people.
How can one not imagine an exiled Rafael Alberti sitting on one of the benches in the Church of Santa Maria in Trastevere and thinking about the longed-for Cádiz of his soul? How can he not get excited when crossing the Sant'Angelo bridge for the first time? How not to curse that time travel does not exist so that you can go back to your imperial times and discover if you would be a slave or a patrician?
All cities house a soul that beats incessantly, and that of Rome beats to the rhythm of who is known to have been the epicenter of the world. During systole he will show you the monumental city will make you feel part of its mythology, its history, its buildings and columns. Everything, or almost everything, that you know as culture began there, many meters below your feet.
Its diastole will present you with the most unofficial part of the city, that of the poets, the artisans, the 'trasteverina', the secret, the gastronomic, the popular. Get used to its beats.
The most popular Rome captivates
Rome will not let you or your senses rest. From very early in the morning the city pounces on you with its intense smell of perfectly executed coffee , seducing even those who, like the one who signs these words, are not capable of enjoying this drink.
Slowly, the aroma of fresh basil and wood ovens will make its way through the streets and your olfactory system. By then, you will be lost and can only think about eating. The 'città' becomes a dance of fragrances that you had almost given up on and that, instead, were waiting for you sitting on the terrace of some charming restaurant crowded with expressive Romans and hungry tourists, who regain their strength before continuing their walk on the cobbled alleys towards the Campo de' Fiori market.
Now, it's your turn to be part of the city, so eat pizza, pasta and lots of ice cream, even if it's winter and your hands and ears are frozen. Visit the Vatican and imagine an impossible and fortuitous encounter with Jude Law and his white tracksuit in The Young Pope. If you have enough time, spend hours and hours in the Sistine Chapel.
Feel tiny and absurd when your eyes fall, for the first time, on the Coliseum and begin to be aware of your size and that gladiators and beasts fought right there. Buy yourself a disposable camera and turn your visit into unique postcards. Take a night walk in front of the Trevi Fountain and complain that you can't see it because of the number of tourists there are, even if you are one of them.
And feel small before its immensity
Take a guided tour of the **underground Rome,** between catacombs, underground basilicas and the Capuchin church of Santa Maria della Concezione , decorated with more than 4,000 skeletons of ancient monks. Let them talk to you there about the abandoned gods of ancient civilizations and their 'coincidences' with some myths of current religions.
Walk through the Roman Forum trying to unravel everything that happened there. Name all the stray cats you find. Get to Piazza Navona and join the bustle of its restaurants, craft vendors, portrait artists, caricaturists and spontaneous musicians. Let Stendhal's syndrome take over like the Asian tourist in Sorrentino's La Grande Bellezza.
What's more, he experiences the city with the same contradictory emotions as Jep Gambardella, the protagonist of the same film. Do all the 'tourists' ever and for ever and that, sometimes, you want to avoid.
Rome is bustling and, regardless of all the topics it may raise, its influence is such that it could offend any city. I assure you that at some point during your visit, the feeling of not being able to live without her will take over you, and you will only want to stay in her universe.
If all this is still too little for you, you can continue touring the city using cinema and literature as inspiration.
Why not follow, for example, in the footsteps of Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck, with or without a scooter, in Roman Holiday? Or savor the same delicious pasta dishes as Julia Roberts in Eat Pray Love. And even, you can search if there is still something of the Dolce Vita of Fellini's Rome among its streets , although forget about night baths in the Fontana di Trevi. That only works if you're Anita Ekberg.
If travel writing is part of your preparations before heading off to any destination, you're in luck. Roma is a constant diva and muse for many writers. Federico García Lorca dedicated a poem to him entitled Cry towards Rome and Rafael Alberti published a collection of poems called Rome: danger for walkers in which he talks about the years he spent there during his exile.
Stendhal , for his part, conscientiously explores the city he found on his way in Walks in Rome . Also Javier Revert, much more current, he narrates his vision of the city in a roman autumn . Possibly, when you have returned to your mundane life, you will also feel the need to write something about it. Do it.
Holidays in Rome
And don't worry if you feel sad when you leave that you haven't had enough time. No matter how much you prepare and, even if you spend close to an eternity wandering through history and time, there is no way to feel that you have witnessed all that this city has to offer. Remember, Rome is wonderful and eternal.