26-August-2011 Rome
My first international holiday, quite proud about it.
After a long night at the airport, it was finally time to fly to Rome - the city famous for not being built in a day ;)
The journey wasn't very different to some of the journeys i'd experienced in the past on crowded buses in India, but this time, I was on a flight and not in a bus.
Approximately two and a half hours later, we land in Rome, in an aiport outside the city. It was fairly easy getting from the airport to the hotel, with minor challenges in explaning to the cab driver where the hotel was. Easy check-in, quick shower and then we're off, to see the sights this former power centre of the world, had to offer.
The stuggle with language became real at our first stop - to buy some lunch. Having lived in a bubble that English was spoken all over the West, was a bit surprised to realise that something as common (or atleast I thought) as 'chicken' wasn't understood by our Italian waitress. Had to coo like one to make her realise what I was asking for. The challenges of not knowing the local language only got better(sic) with time.
The first jaw-hits-floor moment came, as we climbed up the stairs of the Colosseo metro station to catch a view of the mighty Colosseum. The mighty monument, not only stood the assault of time, fire and nature on its exterior, but also the assaults, the curses and the cries of slaves on its interior. Was a shame to see tour operators rushing people through this magnificent structure rather than letting them immerse themselves in this monument that was the final breathing place of the brave and the timid, the free and the slave, the mighty and the meek, alike.
Across the Colosseum, is the Roman Forum. What would have once been the power-centre of culture, religion and entertainment, is today a ruin - a magnificent one at that. Shut your eyes to the motor vehicles passing around the walls of this and your eyes will be opened to the dusty roads tread upon by carriages and hooves. The birth place of the Roman senate, the residences of the Roman emperor, offices of the High Priest, temples to planets, a long list of Roman Gods and in later centuries, of Christians, triumph archs, built to welcome victorious roman regiments, all lie in a ruin - a testament to the abuse of power.
A lot to see in Rome, getting lost, not knowing the language, the food, everything opened my eyes to what travelling means - to live the culture, to fall in love with the place, to appreciate the past that has given the present city its place in this ever changing, ever growing world.
One day, if the legend of the Trevi Fountain is true..my coin will pull me back.
My first international holiday, quite proud about it.
After a long night at the airport, it was finally time to fly to Rome - the city famous for not being built in a day ;)
The journey wasn't very different to some of the journeys i'd experienced in the past on crowded buses in India, but this time, I was on a flight and not in a bus.
Approximately two and a half hours later, we land in Rome, in an aiport outside the city. It was fairly easy getting from the airport to the hotel, with minor challenges in explaning to the cab driver where the hotel was. Easy check-in, quick shower and then we're off, to see the sights this former power centre of the world, had to offer.
The stuggle with language became real at our first stop - to buy some lunch. Having lived in a bubble that English was spoken all over the West, was a bit surprised to realise that something as common (or atleast I thought) as 'chicken' wasn't understood by our Italian waitress. Had to coo like one to make her realise what I was asking for. The challenges of not knowing the local language only got better(sic) with time.
The first jaw-hits-floor moment came, as we climbed up the stairs of the Colosseo metro station to catch a view of the mighty Colosseum. The mighty monument, not only stood the assault of time, fire and nature on its exterior, but also the assaults, the curses and the cries of slaves on its interior. Was a shame to see tour operators rushing people through this magnificent structure rather than letting them immerse themselves in this monument that was the final breathing place of the brave and the timid, the free and the slave, the mighty and the meek, alike.
Across the Colosseum, is the Roman Forum. What would have once been the power-centre of culture, religion and entertainment, is today a ruin - a magnificent one at that. Shut your eyes to the motor vehicles passing around the walls of this and your eyes will be opened to the dusty roads tread upon by carriages and hooves. The birth place of the Roman senate, the residences of the Roman emperor, offices of the High Priest, temples to planets, a long list of Roman Gods and in later centuries, of Christians, triumph archs, built to welcome victorious roman regiments, all lie in a ruin - a testament to the abuse of power.
A lot to see in Rome, getting lost, not knowing the language, the food, everything opened my eyes to what travelling means - to live the culture, to fall in love with the place, to appreciate the past that has given the present city its place in this ever changing, ever growing world.
One day, if the legend of the Trevi Fountain is true..my coin will pull me back.
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