Rome via Brooklyn

286 words, 2 minute read time.

Yet another day where I’m personally victimized by the heat. I very unintelligently thought the transit strike was this day, so I dragged Isabel along on a grueling 45 minute walk to Trajan’s Market. It was nice visiting the museum right around when it closed, it felt like we basically had the place to ourselves. I love a large in-tact ancient building, but I do not love stairs, especially ones with very high steps. Weren’t people supposed to be shorter back then? I still need to know exactly who these stairs were for.

Not to rehash what I said about Herculaneum, but the roads really caught my attention, all for the same reasons. Imagining all the people who walked down those streets before me never gets old.

I saw one of the most influential things on this trip here, a closet of rocks and debris. It really struck me then, that this is my future career staring back at me. I’m aware that is genuinely the most boring thing ever, but a part of me still got excited about it. I hope to see many rock closets in my future. Side note, that sign about how the seagulls might attack had me paranoid the entire time we were here. And on another side note, this mosaic is really cool.

I’ve come across a lot of tattoo inspiration while in Rome, and this is absolutely going on the list. I wonder if this is some kind of mythical fish inspired by a piranha (if piranhas are even native to the area), or maybe even a deep-sea fish that washed up! Much to think about.

–Nico Vila