When I think of Rome, I think of:
- The taste of the water at public fountains
- The view from the top of Castel Sant’Angelo on a clear day
- Walking over the Tiber River, every day, several times a day
- Looking past the graffiti and grime to see the intricate details of stonework throughout the city, and imagining what it must have been like in its heyday
- Street covers that read SPQR
- Rays of morning sunlight piercing through the Colosseum’s portals
- Visiting with Bernini’s sculptures at the Galleria Borghese – in the place where the works were commissioned and intended to be displayed
- The sound of rain falling on tile roof tops, and cobble stone streets
- Watching the grim faces of the general public melt into a smile when you talk with them
- Walking and never feeling tired because around every corner, there is something amazing to see and appreciate
- The Map Gallery at the Vatican Museums
- The wonderful smell of that store that sells linens on Via Tomacelli
- Standing on the hilltop, overlooking the Piazza del Popolo, and watching life take place
- The way music sounds in the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma
- Listening to Italians speak English (because my Italian is so bad) with the most heartwarming accent
- How terrible TV selection is, forcing you to it turn off, and participate in life, which is happening all around you
- When Juventus comes to town and plays against Roma or Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico
- How much I stare at the calendar, thinking about the next trip back to Rome
I Crossed an Ocean... 