A Walk Through Rome

Before coming to Florence, I was able to visit Rome, which is by far one of the most beautiful cities I have ever had the pleasure of visiting. When I first arrived at 8:00 in the morning, I was told by the front desk of the hotel that I would not be able to access my room until 4:00 pm. At first, this was devastating, given that I was jet-lagged and in a country I had never been to before. As a result of this, I decided to go for a walk. I left my hotel and was hit by a cold swirl of wind to the face and the buzzing of traffic in a city that about to wake up. At first I walked aimlessly around the city and felt like an out of place tourist wearing my sweatshirt and sweatpants, receiving multiple confused looks by who I assumed were locals. The first site I visited was the Trevi Fountain, which exceeded my expectations in terms of architecture. The massive fountain has sculpting of mere perfection that pairs perfectly with water that resembles the blue of the sky on a cloudless day. Constantly getting pushed by other viewers who had no problem bumping shoulders in order to get the perfect candid, I felt as though my out of place look had gone unnoticed. After viewing the fountain, my stomach began to ache for food, and my search for pasta had began. I located a little tent on the sidewalk with tables under it, and had finally found a restaurant. Without looking over the menu, I sat down, and the server handed me a menu in Italian. After attempting and failing to speak english to him, I took to Google to find some recommendations on pasta in Rome. I ended up ordering penne all’arrabbiata, a penne pasta with spicy red sauce that originated in Rome. The pasta was cooked perfectly el dente, upon my first bite I noticed a light crunch that I was not used to, but really enjoyed. After my meal, I was ready explore more of the city, so I walked towards where my taxi driver claimed was the center. Unknowingly, I stumbled across the Roman Forum, which appeared to be a massive structure in the center, and decided I needed to go to the top. After climbing what felt like a million steps, I reached the peek and was gifted a view of the city that I will never forget. Straight ahead of me was the center of the city, and to my right was the mighty Colosseum. By now, I had surpassed the time I could check into my room and my legs could not walk any farther, so I went back to my hotel. This journey through Rome is one that I will never forget and it showed me that in such a magnificent place, something so simple as a walk could be something I never forget.