a Roman holiday of sorts!

Well my dearest of dear friends,

Today, this fine Friday March 27, 2009, I went on a Roman holiday of sorts.  I went for an adventure. I woke up (really early), and went to Rome for the day, all by my lonesome. 

I wanted to go back to Rome for a number of reasons.  I wanted to see the Sistine Chapel and Vatican city.  I wanted to hang out in another country for a while.  I also wanted to be brave! 

So I know that going to Rome for the day isn’t an entirely courageous thing to do, not in the least.  But I’ve wanted to be less regimented and worried about planning things out perfectly here of late.  I want to have the ability to go with the flow, let things happen and not worry all the time.  I have a friend, Kas, who I quite admire.  She is a neuroscience major but decided to come to saci to study art for a semester.   Kas is funny, incredibly smart, a talented photographer, and a generally nice person to be around.  I admire her ability to simply let things happen and not worry about the future.  Recently I asked her how she does this; this going places and doing things without worrying about it.  She told me, quite simply, “Emily, sometimes you have to just go. Just go.  Leap and believe in the universe to catch you, or at least let you land where you need to be.” 

So today, I went to Rome in an attempt to push myself out of my hermit-y comfort zone (and to see some great art!).  I didn’t plan anything beyond getting my train tickets the night before, and I just went. 

And you know what, I had a really nice time!  Wandering around the city with just myself, deciding what to do as I went, working hard to not freak out about the little things, taking my time places, stopping to look at weird postcards…it was great! I enjoyed the time alone and spent a good deal of time reading in the Piazza San Pietro (you know, that area outside Saint Peter’s that’s supposed to be like two arms reaching out to the faithful to pull them into the safety of the faith, but really it just makes me think of a phallic symbol).   

Seeing the Sistine Chapel was neat.  The more time I spent straining to see it the more interesting and impressive it became.  But at the same time, all of the people talking and taking pictures and the attendants shouting for “silence!” and “no photos!” really kept it from being any sort of a religious experience.  I know people want to see it because it’s so beautiful and impressive, but all those people trying to see it make it so much less beautiful and impressive.  Its hard, this whole tourism situation.

It was strange, at one point while I was looking up, I realized that someday this ceiling would be like the ruins that are scattered throughout the city.  Someday people wouldn’t know who painted it.  Someday the whole ceiling might not even be there.  Someday there will not be people crowding to see it.  It was a humbling moment, and a shock as well. 

 

I also went into Saint Peter’s, which is large and in charge.  That’s really the only way that I know how to describe it, or the whole of Vatican City.  The interior is quite powerful.  What I liked about it most was the floor.  Beautiful different marble tiles in circles and squares (So of course I would like it)!  It was really quite impressive and beautiful.  I don’t know how many people notice it because of the ceilings and sculptures, which is unfortunate.

 

On the way home from my grand adventure, I got to watch the sun set over the Tuscan countryside.  All of the colors!; the blues and greens and purples, all fading off into the distance.  The last beams of sunlight falling on long-abandoned farmhouses illuminated their age and longevity, but stated quite plainly that these structures too would fade away, just as the sun was fading. 

My day of adventure probably doesn’t seem like much of an adventure to most people; wandering around a city, hanging out in a church and reading isn’t all that exciting I suppose.  But when I got to Rome, I knew what I wanted to do, and I just did it.  So I guess I can just go! and do things, my hermit-y things, all over the world.  Whenever and where ever I like.  I just have to go, like Kas says.  

 

Emily