Wondering around the city is slowly, but surely becoming a lot more directed. It’s a nice feeling to recognize a place that I’ve passed before and even understand that I need to go right and not left. Sometimes these tiny streets like to play tricks on you. The best part is, that usually no matter which turn you make, you have the chance to discover something new and beautiful. This week has been somewhat uneventful so far because of all of the studio time at the school that I’ve had to put in. I haven’t been able to go out much so I’ll share some from last week and the weekend.
Walks at night are still my favorite part about the city. There’s something magical about walking around and stumbling upon a highlighted piece of history. I took a walk to the Trevi Fountain the other night where I found a whole crowd of people…literally…a huuuuge crowd. I don’t know if there is ever a time when there isn’t one, but I’m determined to find one. I like the thought of standing in front of it with less than 50 people there. When I visited it this weekend, there was probably around 500 people there. All sitting around it like a theater. It’s definitely an interesting view. One of my favorite parts were the men walking around selling things. They have these toys there that shoot up into the air and spin down to the ground. The interesting part about them is that they light up. When there are a few men walking around the square selling them at the same time, it looks like a shower of shooting stars falling around you. This may be my own dreamy take on these toys, but none the less, I found them beautiful. From the fountain, we traveled to the Pantheon. The Pantheon is an amazing place. Although you can’t enter it at night, it’s just as captivating outside. If you sit inside the columns holding up the “porch roof” as I like to call it, you can look up and watch the bats waking up and flying around. The noises it makes inside the columns is so interesting. I believe that everyone should experience it.
Another adventure that we took was clothing shopping. If you notice the style in Rome, you’ll notice that most people look like they could have just stepped out of a magazine. Everyone seems to look very groomed. It’s funny to be thrown into this when I’m usually the one that wakes up 15 minutes before I have to leave and stick my hair up with some pins. So we took a trip down to Zara. Zara is like a European version of h&m or Forever21. The clothing there are somewhat reasonably priced. Some are more than others, but they have a pretty wide selection of stuff for girls. Boys, not so much. The crazy thing about Zara is that it’s a four story building filled with clothing, and there are two or three more relatively close. Standing on the top level looking down gives you a pretty intense feeling.
Of course the trip wouldn’t come to a close without trying to find a good Italian dinner. Unfortunately this one was not the cat’s meow, so to say. My meal was pretty good. The pasta had a lot of seafood in it, which I loved. The second part was fried calamari and what I think was large shrimp, although I’m not completely sure. My boyfriend’s meal, however, turned out to be chicken strips and french fries. I found this pretty funny, but it really was not that good. The chicken seemed to just be warmed up, not grilled or baked or fried or anything, and the french fries were pretty far on the soggy side. But the wine was good and the company great, overall the night was a success.
