Trifter

The city of Rome is steeped in history and full of world famous landmarks that are seen by millions of tourists year after year. The amazing Vatican, Colosseo and Trevi Fountain instantly come to mind on mentioning the Italian Capital but following my first visit to Italy my vision of what the Country and Countrymen were to be was very quickly changed.

The sights and landmarks are absolutely stunning and leave you in complete awe but the actual city of Rome and its habitants was the complete opposite to what the city had to offer and to what I had come to expect of it. I appreciate that European Capital Cities are very busy and hectic but London, for example, has its own character associated with it industrious temperament where as Rome had a very dull, rotten and totally defaced feel about it. My accommodation was based 10 minutes walk away from the Colosseo and 5 minutes away from the nearest tube station, Manzoni. The area was completely covered in graffiti and occupied by young crowds that made walks after dark uneasy and inevitably avoidable. The tube stations were always filled with beggars, who would frequently have some kind of deformity they would openly display to the public. Added to this, a picture of the Holy Mary would always be sat in front of them acting as a visual plea for pity, mercy and ultimately money. This occurrence I would encounter daily and it became very apparent that Rome wasn’t a just a City full of beauty, wealth and history but one that had poverty and crime in its essence.

My experience of Rome’s outstanding features was totally overshadowed by the actual city itself which not only killed my initial perception toward Rome but also the Country of Italy itself. All past images of beautiful brunettes, pasta and red wine were being replaced with dreary beggars and graffiti. There were some charming areas I discovered in Rome that I expected to find throughout the City. Navona Square adjacent to the Pantheon is vibrant with bars, restaurants and local artists parading there work. This along with the amazing Vatican City became part of an unfortunate minority as my stay in Rome reached its end. They say if you throw a penny in the Trevi Fountain you will return to Rome…….as a precaution I never did throw in that penny in and even though I felt so in awe at places such as the Colosseo and the Sistine Chapel, I do not regret in failing to participating in this act.