Rome via Brooklyn

510 words, 3 minute read

In all honesty, the moment I was in that taxi, I dozed off because I was just that tired. I did open my eyes on occasion and, in hazy recollection, I remember seeing an immense amount of foliage near the highways and roads that reminded me of the highways in Guangzhou where nature and city co-existed. As we drove towards Rome, I noticed how much denser the buildings became as we entered Rome. I saw the fortress and wondered to myself if it was the castle I had seen on the map (and it was). The last thing I saw before I woke up for good was a comically green neon sign for a pharmacy. The sleep deprivation and gorgeous sights made for a very surreal taxi journey. Once I was slightly more alert, I could really take in the beauty of the neighborhood. Most of what I saw and was walking on was so clearly from a bygone era, whether it was the castle itself or the cobblestone pavement or the fountains that littered the streets; all of which are still used today by modern people.

I found the transportation information from CultureSmart! to be the most helpful, as earlier I had to purchase a ticket from a tabacchi. Although I learned about these stands and how to purchase one from Professor Yarrow, the book was where I learned about it first. I did, however, had to look up how to validate my ticket (there’s a yellow box near the back where you feed it to be stamped!). On that particular bus there was no one who was inspecting it, but I have heard of people getting fined for not validating their tickets even though they had bought it. I didn’t go with the metro group to take the train to the supermarket, so I can’t speak on how similar our trains are but I found the buses to be pretty similar- barring tickets. The bus stops and routes seem pretty straightforward and both buses in New York are labeled with numbers.

The strongest memory of my first day in Rome had to be the taste of fountain water. I did have some hesitation initially, but after being vetted by Professor Yarrow, I filled up my bottle with fountain water. Although the taste isn’t necessarily bad, I did find it very strange compared to the filtered water I’m used to back home. I recently discovered that oddly enough, sparkling water is closer in taste to the still mineral water from New York City. I’ve never been a carbonated water kind of person, but Rome appears to be changing that. As for what was familiar, I’d say the amount of walking we did was very familiar as I’m used to walking great distances back in NYC. Wandering for hours while looking at sights and stores is exactly what I used to do, and it’s even more fun in a completely foreign city (even when I was dead on my feet.)