Roaming Around Rome

Visiting Italy was more of a dream, and I am thankful to God, who helped me realize it. But why was it a dream, if there are so many other amazing places in the world? There is a story behind it and I will try to narrate it as quickly as possible because perhaps it’s not so important anymore. I was selected for Erasmus European Voluntary Service in Sicily, Italy, but my visa application got rejected twice; the main reason being my nationality. The embassy was not convinced that I will return back to my country before the expiration of my visa, even though tremendous support letters and proofs had been attached with my application.

Anyway, for my Erasmus Exchange semester the Polish Embassy granted me a D type Visa with multiple entries enabling me to roam in Schengen Zone freely. So when I planned this five country tour, Italy had to be there and it was.

I along with my friend took a bus from Zurich to Rome and the journey lasted for some 12 hours. I am an expert in such long journeys now: just bring your travel pillow, some snacks, and it’s all good. Besides, after all the adventures in Zurich, we were tired enough to sleep like anywhere.

We had our apartment booked in Rome through Airbnb, but it was slightly outside the modern city centre. The landlords were really cool; they came to pick us up from the station and drove us to our place. Just to mention, if you are allergic to crowded and congested places, the subways and trams of Rome would most probably not appear pleasant to you, but visiting Rome once in a lifetime is a must, I suppose.

So after reaching the apartment we just rested shortly and left for a new adventure. I made sure to carry my Pakistani flag with me, as I knew I was close to fulfilling my dream.

I was almost jumping and screaming out of joy once we reached Coliseum. I took out my flag and made my friend capture a lot of pictures of me holding and flying my flag- the Pakistani flag proudly. Again, it was very crowded, but not a big deal. It was amazing, but I realized in that moment that I was more into nature than into architecture. I missed the greenery of Lungern. Also I was unhappy as they were reconstructing some part of the Coliseum. I mean, won’t it lose its worth that day? It has to stay original.

Quite closer was the Roman Forum. It is a place with ruins of ancient government buildings, temples, basilicas etc. It used to me one of the most important places and dates back to around 7th century BC.

We were then hungry and finding a South Asian restaurant there with halal food was quite an easy thing, as they are a lot. We ate fast food and continued our adventure. We decided to give the Vatican City a visit.

We knew how important it was, but didn’t imagine it so full of people. In fact, we were even planning to see the Pope. So unconsciously we were entering through a wrong gate, reserved for the official staff there only perhaps, and the guard almost stopped my friend with his big gun. We came in peace, he realized that we were tourists and showed us the right entering point.

St. Peter’s Square was big, it has an identity and atmosphere of its own which could mesmerize anyone. Meeting the Pope! Well, we couldn’t even enter the Basilica because of the big queue. We stayed there for a long while.

I bought this lovely key chain from a nearby stall, the quality is really fine and it cost just 1 euro.

We then visited that Castel Sant’Angelo. This castle, which now serves as a museum, was interestingly once the tallest building of Rome and was initially built as a Mausoleum for the Roman Emperor Hadrian and his family. I was amazed for a while about how all the places are linked. Back in Antalya, Turkey, one of the famous touristic spots is Hadrian’s Gate, which was built in his honour when he visited the city in 130.

There was nice live music there near the Castle. We sat there for a while and then walked to the other side of city crossing at the amazing Sant’Angelo Bridge. My friend intentionally tried to ruin pictures of others by waving and smiling into cameras that were not supposed to be for him but them. Anyhow, some didn’t notice and others were polite enough to let it go.

The place we visited next was a basilica–the best ever I have seen in my life, specially the interior. It was the Basilica of Santa Maria in Ara Coeli. It was not only holy, but a blend of royal, sacred and divine. It is located the highest summit of Capitoline Hill, which is one of the seven hills of Rome and gives an amazing view of the city. Watching sunsets there could be a nice idea.

Just next to Capotoline Hill is the Altar of the Fatherland which is also known as National Monument to Victor Emmanuel II. As referred in the name, this monument was built to honour the Victor Emmanuel who served as the first king of unified in Italy in the mid 19th Century. Like every other place in Rome, it also depicts the excellence and superiority of architecture that can be only found in Rome.

It was also a nice place to capture a view of Piazza Venezia and Trajan’s Forum. Piazza Venezia is one of the most famous squares of Rome, as it also serves as the central hub of the city.

I would also recommend visiting Spanish Steps and Piazza Novana, we saw them while travelling but couldn’t really explore them due to shortage of time. However, I really feel they would be as enticing as the other sites.

Our next target was visiting one of the most famous fountains of the world; yes, I am talking about the Trevi Fountain. I think most of the people have seen it, if not in reality then definitely in the films. On our way however, we stopped for a Gelato- well that’s a must in Italy. Right!

But soon we were in front of this magical beauty. It must be even more charming in the sunlight, even though it was no less in the shades of evening. It was full of people, again, like every other place in Europe. Nevertheless, I managed to get a place as close as possible. I noticed that the fountain was full of coins. I searched about it and found some very interesting legends which I would like to share with the readers. First is that the coin should be thrown with the right hand and over the left shoulder, it will ensure that in future you will return to Rome. The second legend is the one on which the film “Three coins in the Trevi Fountain” was based. It encourages you to throw three coins instead of one; the first one will ensure your return to Rome, the second will ensure a new romance and third will ensure a marriage. So, in case you are travelling with your partners, better not think about the second coin.

More interestingly, according to an estimate, around 3000 euros are thrown into the fountain everyday, and this money is used to finance a supermarket that helps poor people.

We then took our dinner at an Indian Restaurant and went back to the apartment. That was our day one in Italy. It’s not a very expensive place for travelling. You can buy the one day transport pass for around 7 euros, and a fast food deal would cost you around 5 euros.

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