Rome via Brooklyn

511 words, 3 minutes read time.

On Saturday Dakota and I made our way to the pride parade! We were both so excited to experience pride in another country, especially because we were missing most of the month back home. There were multiple stops of the parade but we decided to go straight to the Colosseum, one of the last stops. The bus we had to take ended up being derouted, so we got off early and walked. We wondered if we should take a cab because we were meeting Danielle, but we weren’t sure what the price range would be, though I saw the minimum ride was 9 euros. We ended up walking and walked past the Circus Maximus, an ancient chariot racing stadium. It was really cool and a giant space, so it’s not surprising when I did some research and found out it is also now used as a venue.

As we kept walking we saw the Arch of Constantine, which was exciting because Dakota is doing her presentation on it so it was nice to see it before we visit as a class. We noticed many people selling parasols, so hopefully we can pick one up tomorrow for our trip to the roman forum. There is so much detail on the arch and the reliefs, it really intrigued me and made me even more excited to see it as a class.

My first time seeing the Colosseum felt otherworldly and just the level of amazement I expected. I noticed many holes in the exterior and tried to remember what they were from art history class.

We finally found the couple of blocks where the parade was sectioned off. At first we were confused because at Brooklyn pride, all the areas that are part of the parade are sectioned off together, but this was only about 2 blocks. We tried asking some Americans if they knew where the actual march was happening but they were just as confused as us. We decided to wait and see if the parade will eventually come, and (spoiler) it did! It was so beautiful being in front of the colosseum, it felt like a once in a lifetime experience. Danielle met up with us and we explored the area that was sectioned off. There was a really cute shop and a historical gay bar called “Coming Out”. There was also a stage with a DJ and drag performers!

The parade finally caught up to us after a couple hours and the energy was heart warming. So many people supporting the LGBTQ+ community. Being able to walk with everyone was awesome, especially because at home it is blocked off for people officially part of the parade. There seemed to be many people with news type cameras so it reminded me of culture smart mentioning “Italy’s best selling newspapers… Repubblica or L’Unitá“(184). We were also in the midst of many locals and felt part of the community. There were all different kinds of floats, even ones with families and kids. One of their balloons stumbled my way, so I’ve been carrying around a “Famiglie Arcobaleno Associazione Genitori Omosessuali” balloon attached to my fanny pack the last couple of days, spreading joy as I walk around.