In the baking hot heat of summer Rome is not a friendly place to be. With huge backpacks we struggled into the city, dust in our lungs and sweat pouring from us as we tried to do Rome justice.
By now I was starting to realize big cities weren’t really my thing. Not a huge fan of London, and soon to find Barcelona didn’t really grab me, Rome was the city that made me think big is not always better.
There are some things you have to see when you visit Rome. The Vatican, the Trevi Fountains, the Colosseum, the Pantheon just to get started. But these aren’t all in one area. With the sun beating down, sightseeing became a huge chore.
You walk past impressive buildings interspersed by Roman ruins fenced off with columns and toppled ancient architecture begging you to photograph them.
Tempers frayed and our team spirit was waning. Wouldn’t we have been better staying in Sardinia where at least you could take a dip when it got too hot.
For the colosseum at least we had some enthusiasm and bothered to take a few portraits just to show we’d been there. Then as we hung out there a marathon took place. We marveled that people would choose to run so many miles in such insane heat.
Thinking back on it, really Rome deserves another shot. In spring or autumn when the temperatures are more reasonable and the dust isn’t such a factor. Timing walks to when the traffic is quieter and not focusing on those tourist attractions.
There is more to see in the city. For example Alberto Moravia wrote of a different Rome. Tourists didn’t get a mention and his books gave a glimpse of a different city. Maybe no longer evident, but that different view suggests that Rome changes and could be different now from what we saw so long ago.
