Rome via Brooklyn

378 words, 2 minutes read time.

My first weekend in Rome went really well as a group of us got to see the Necropolis. With our time to see the necropolis being 1:30 PM, it was really nice to get to wake up hours later than I usually do, especially after having a late night. It was kind of funny the fact that we walked through these large bronze gates into a parking lot, and then another door which felt like walking into an entirely different time period. We had a great tour guide and despite the room being pretty humid, I had a great time. It felt so weird seeing actual remains just beneath our feet in small shallow graves, which I learned were common for those who were poorer and couldn’t afford to cremate or have their own custom sarcophagi.

Seeing different headstones, sarcophagi, urns, and other pieces of the common funerary practices, as well as different videos which helped visualize what the necropolis would have looked like during the times it was used was really interesting, and gave me another understanding of the ways of life for those who weren’t wealthy. We also saw another example of excavators completely scrambling tiles in mosaics, as one depiction of Bacchus, while pretty well preserved, had areas where black and white pieces of tile were completely disorganized. Another fun fact I had learned is that people used to put coins in the mouth and on the eyes of their deceased so they had a way to “pay” for their passage through the afterlife, and we got to see some of those coins today.

I got to have great lunch and gelato with Nico in the area around the Pantheon area and we somehow managed to get it for pretty good prices! While I should definitely be spending less than I am, going out to eat and trying all the different foods is always going to beat whatever mostly edible meal I make for dinner. I’m making it my goal to cook dinner at least two nights this week and go out for lunch a bit less. I can’t sacrifice the cafe I go to basically every morning JUST yet, but slow progress is still progress.

Khadija Fall ❤