Rome Part 1

I like to judge cities on how much I want to live there. Paris, for example, I liked so much I came back to stay for a couple years. Yet, for Rome, I probably won’t be returning any time soon. Or ever. Don’t get me wrong, though! Sara and I saw and experienced things that are once in a lifetime if you are lucky! We took away happy memories overall from our trip. But as much as I avoid being negative in my blog, I am going to be honest and tell the good AND the bad of Rome.

We’ll start with the bad and then end on the good.

The Bad
In general, the city and its people seem to detest the tourists who are in fact the large majority of financial benefactors to the city. The organization of the city is for the Romans and not for the tourists. Basically this means that if you don’t already know what to do and you can’t read Italian, then you’re screwed. You are left with no other choice but to ask someone to help you. This person will most likely a) not speak English, b) want to sell you something, c) want to hit on you, or d) be annoyed that you don’t already know and project that they think you are a waste of time and space. For example, when we first arrived in Rome we wanted to go straight to the tourist information office as it was sure to be in the train station and we needed maps and suggestions and other things like that. We began, logically, by following the signs posted throughout the train station. This led us literally in circles and nowhere near the office. A man approached us asking if we were looking for information. As this is a city dominated by tourists, I believed it was possible that the office sent out satellite helpers to reduce the line in the office and catch the tourists lost in the train station. During our conversation, it quickly became apparent that he wanted to sell us tours. We didn’t need a tour. We didn’t want a tour. We just wanted to go to the flippin’ tourist office but when we asked for directions he said it was far and refused to tell us how to get there and kept selling his tour until we simply walked away. Ugh. Ok, take two with the signs. Nowhere to be found. Mind you, we are carrying all of our things and it was our past dinner time. After a good 20 minutes, we stopped in a store to ask where in GOD’S NAME is the Tourists Information Office. In a tone of voice that suggested he believed us to be simpleton’s, he told us it was on platform 25. First of all, why is it on a platform? Secondly, why couldn’t the signs have pointed us in that direction???? THEN! On platform 25, it was still difficult to find, and there is no clear sign to say “ INFORMATION HERE!!!” but by the grace of God we find the tiny little office tucked away in a place that a tourist would otherwise never find. We waited in line and talked to the girl at the counter who really had better things to do than to talk to us. UGH!!!!

But this is where I stop with negativity. I won’t tell you about the other experiences similar to the one above that occurred in restaurants and tour offices. We won’t go into how everyone on the street approaches you to sell you something, steal something, or give you the up and down with a ever so creepy “ciao bella” (or variation of that). We won’t tell you the crazy stories about our ill-managed hostel. Instead, I’m going to take a deep, calming breath and recount the fabulous things we saw and did.

(I made a second post because the Good half is rather lengthy!)
Pictures Here:

Rome