Posted by Rome, Italy. Roma, Italia. Or if you want to be stupid like they were in naming the last Winter Olympics, you can try Rome, Italia or Roma, Italy. Still, I suppose the point of this trip wasn’t to make fun of names or rehash why Italyia didn’t deserve to win the World Cup. The point is this – Impressive Things BUilt by Long-Dead White People… or their Long-Dead Slaves.
From a purely touristic standpoint, a weekend trip to Rome (or Roma) is too short. It’s way too short. It’s such a whirlwind to get everything done. Piazza San Pietro, Basilica Di San Pietro, Capella Sistina, the COlosseum, the Roman Forum, the Pantheon – after a while, everything starts to run together. AFC. AFR. AFP. Another Frickin’ Church. Another Frickin’ Ruin. Another Frickin’ Piazza.
And they even have ruins stolen from Egypt. As if Rome somehow needed more old things that need to be cared for and preservered. I’ve always considered it a great travesty the amount of relics stolen from ancient Egypt. In the middle of a square in Instanbul, which itself has no shortage of history & culture, is a tall column stolen from Egypt but the Turkish government refuses to return it to Egypt.
Anyway, the monuments and ruins and paintings – they’re all impressive in a very classical Western-oriented sense and well, Rome is/was the centre of Classical Western… ism. Or something. Rome’s worth the trip and I’m glad I did it. But it’s not the be all end all of tourism. I’m still looking to the day I visit the Temple of Angkor Watt.
