This past week my friend and I had the opportunity to travel to Italy. Such a beautiful city filled with so much history, culture and beauty!
It always amazes me how cities like Rome have been able to preserve their culture and architecture from the ancient times. It was definitely an awesome experience to immerse myself in this culture that was so unique. Everyone was showing love and had this lighthearted vibe about themselves. It was really awesome to travel, explore, and vibe with other awesome kind hearted souls.
Roma
We spent our time in Italy traveling the streets of Rome immersing ourselves in the unique Roma culture.
As we ventured through the narrow cobble stone streets of Roma we set out on an adventure to experience all the historical landmarks like the Colosseum and the Trevi Fountain.
The Colosseum with its massive perimeter was actually less exciting than I would have imagined it to be. I couldn’t help but think of all the countless people who were murdered for sport or the countless people who died fighting for their freedom; literally the grounds we walked on stained with their blood.
As I walked around thinking about what it was like to have lived during the time of this great Roman Empire I thought to myself its quite interesting to reflect on the people, myself included, that flock to sites like this one just to get a glimpse of something that seems more real in our imagination than in real life. It was definitely urging me to really think about what is important in life. Funny I would be thinking of that at that point in time but it just really made me reflect on human capability to manifest both good and evil. Our potential to create positive innovation if we focus our energy towards doing so.
As night fell we found ourself venturing towards the Trevi Fountain a beautiful sight I would recommend visiting at night when it is all lit up! Truly breathtaking and yes I threw in a coin and made a wish!
Roman Forum
Next to the Colosseum was the great Roman Forum. This site to my surprise was actually quite amazing compared to the Colosseum itself. The area itself was massive and to me it was like what was left of what was once a great Roman city. Most of the buildings which were built hundreds of years ago still stood almost complete, though the majority was still in ruins.
As we explored the ruins of this once great city I couldn’t help but reflect on human technological advances. It’s amazing how advanced our civilization is today compared to the times of the Roman Empire. I was standing on land that in a different time was where people would flock to voice their opinions, to debate, to converse with other like minded individuals; it was a place where ideas were explored and advancements were created. Today, most of us walk around with a mini computer in our pockets connected to a World Wide Web where we can voice our opinions on many different platforms at the touch of a button. It was just amazing to think about how far we have evolved as a human civilization.
It is amazing to think about human capability and where human creation can take us.
The Vatican
Visiting the Vatican in real life is a completely different experience than seeing Vatican City in movies or in pictures. The Vatican has a more preserved sense of culture than I expected. It’s like this little city has remained the same for the majority of its existence.
The one place we spent the most time in was the Vatican Museum where we were able to admire a variety of artworks. We got to see centuries old paintings, tapestries, some of the first maps created, and sculptures that lasted through many different battles. It was definitely a unique experience the Vatican Museum is so huge and very intricate. Nothing compares to the ceiling art of the Vatican SO AMAZING! It’s unreal to think how the art within the walls and the art of the building itself has lasted as long as it has. It was just breathtaking.
The highlight of the museum was at the end when we exited the museum through the Sistine Chapel. Now that was truly more amazing to see in person than in pictures. The art on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel cannot be described to its honor it is an experience that must be lived in person. I can say that I am truly thankful to have been able to experience the art and history preserved in the walls of the Vatican Museum.
Villa Medici
The last place we visited while in Rome was the Medici Villa. Now that place was crazy huge I honestly cannot believe there’s a family that owed all that property and had such an influence on Roman life for so many years. All throughout the property there was marble stone carvings of statues of members of the Medici bloodline. Though I will say it was quite interesting to see the craftsmanship of the statues reflected through the different eras in which they were created.
On the way back to our accommodation my friend and I grabbed some dinner at a little place on the corner of what seemed like a busy intersection. I ended up befriending a man who was experiencing homelessness and lived on the streets of Rome. We had a long conversation in three different languages: French, Italian and Spanish. At the end of our conversation I ended up buying him dinner and he reminded me of our common humanity how no matter what country, class, race we are from we are all different souls having a human experience. We are all connected in someway and we all have the power to make an impact in each others lives. That is why it is so important to strive to make a positive impact always you never know what effect may come out of being a good human being in the world and to each other.
Roma was definitely an experience I am thankful to be apart of. The more I travel to different countries with completely different cultures and way of life the more I feel a growing understanding of our unique differences and how we all together make contributions that create the human race; that is humanity.
Missy's Adventures in the World 