In the Jungles of Rome...

June 04, 2019

This week, I got to spend three days in the lovely, crowded, historical city of...

(as you might have guessed from the title)

... ROME!
My professor, Dr. Kramer, challenged us to be more than just tourists on this trip. Instead of being simply consumers of a packaged trip, I was to look for the little, spontaneous things that I experienced. To be honest, I didn't do too good a job of consciously pulling this feat off. My mind was swept away by the Colosseum, awe-inspiring Vatican Basilica, and Trevi Fountain. After I got back to London and looked through my camera roll however, I realized that I had been paying attention to the little things. These little things being in the form of...

foliage. More specifically, how the flowers and vines covered so many of the restaurants and homes in Rome. As someone who grew up in the desert where I was lucky to find a couple trees in a mile radius, I've always been easily swept up by beautiful plants. I remember when I was riding into London from the Heathrow airport. I let my gaze rove over the patches of grassy hills and bushes. There were giant flowers hanging down heavily over apartments, so many flowers overgrown over stately buildings. I'd never seen anything like it. The way that the plants interact with the urban landscape in England however, has a very different feel from the way the two were integrated in Rome.

The picture painted by the ivy and colorful flora draping various apartments, shops, and restaurants is one of charm, romance, and antiquity. The plants appear to have naturally overtaken the antiquated buildings, and yet were simultaneously too pretty to be completely uncultivated. They added quite a bit to the atmosphere of the eateries and extra charm to the balconies and terraces. When I walked through the relatively quiet alleyways, with the cobblestone streets and tall walls up all around me, the addition of lovely plants almost gave the impression of being in a magical forest. To be clear; it's not as if the areas were COVERED in ivy and flowers, but it was just enough to make the experience, like I said, a bit magical.

The streetscapes and the greenery combined created the whole; a place that seemed ancient but still exists as a modern hub of fashion and food. They blended together seamlessly, the smell of jasmine was refreshing in an urban area that could've smelled a lot less appetizing. No matter where I looked, whether in the center of the city by the Vatican, or further out from the city by the LDS temple, Rome was always integrated with jasmine and trees. The trees were also super interesting- they looked like something you might find on the African savanna, only taller and more uniform. They towered and offered no explanation of themselves other than their presence. I'm still not sure what kind of trees they were, but I know I'll always associate Italy with them.

Other off-topic things!!!

The landmarks that I wanted to see so badly on the course of my trip- namely the Eiffel Tower and Colosseum - were just as impressive as I'd hoped. It's funny how certain things do manage to live up to your expectations while others don't. I'm a bit sad that I didn't get to go inside the historical landmark, but it was still amazing to look at from the outside. One of my favorite things to do in Rome was to buy gelato- it was super high quality and very very cheap- only 2 euro for 2-3 flavors! I tried lemon and mango, and chocolate and... I don't remember because I ate it so fast, haha. Wandering around a foreign place can be very stressful and scary and fun at the same time. I'm really glad that I got to spend three days in Rome. :)