“A Roman
Holiday”
9/9/16, “All
Roads Lead to Rome”
John F.
Kennedy International Airport, New York (JFK)
When I set
out to see the world, there was one destination I wanted to visit more than any
place in the world, one place that was so high atop my travel list that there
was not even a close second. One of my
favorite movies of all time, the movie whose title has lent its name to the
obvious title of this trip, ends with Audrey Hepburn’s character being asked
what her favorite city was at the conclusion of her goodwill tour to Europe. The princess she played began to
diplomatically answer that she enjoyed all cities equally, but, instead, she
pronounced one word, a word she pronounced with a drawn-out “om” sound. Which city did Hepburn’s princess enjoy the
most? Rome.
That is where I am now heading, and that is
the city that has been on the top of my travel list for over a decade. Only Greece and London were ever higher and
ever since I visited those two places Rome, which I always pronounce in this
context exactly the way Ms. Hepburn did in that movie I so love, has been at
the top of my travel list. Why then did
it take me so long to come here? I’ve
been on so many trips to so many random locations, trips that were far more
expensive than this trip to Rome will be.
Why then did I do those before Rome?
There are a variety of reasons.
First let us explore why Rome held such a draw to me. The Colosseum is one of the most iconic
buildings in the world, so iconic in fact that it has been designated a New7
Wonder of the World. I have visited the
other six. In fact, I have taken trips
that were exclusively designed to just visit one of those wonders. That alone is enough to make me want to go to
Rome. It has an Olympic Stadium, the
Games of the XVII Olympiad were held there in 1960. I have taken trips that were designed just to
visit a new Olympic Stadium. The 1960
Stadium alone is enough to make me want to go to Rome. Then, let’s look at some of the other interesting
sites. The Holy See is one of the most
interesting countries in the world. The
Sistine Chapel has the second most famous painting in the world. The idea of a tiny country whose head of
state is the most influential religious leader in the world is worth the trip
alone.
Now, reader, I have listed three separate
things in the city of Rome (the Colosseum, the 1960 Olympic Stadium, and the
Vatican City), each of which alone was enough to be worthy of a trip. Rome has all three of them. The only other city in the world with a
similar draw is Rio, which has a New7 Wonder (Christ Redeemer), a Natural
Wonder (the harbor), and an Olympic Stadium (2016). If the Olympics hadn’t been going on and the
Rio Stadium was actually an historic Stadium, I would not have required more
than 24-36 hours in Rio. It was only the
on-going Olympics that caused me to stay longer. I have allocated two full days of activities
just to be spent in the city of Rome (including the Vatican City).
I believe I have now shown why there can be
no doubt that Rome was at the top of my travel list. However, I have not explained the unique draw
that made it so far above anything else.
In addition to the city of Rome, Italy has a total of 51 World Heritage
Sites. That is more than any country in
the world. Most of them are easily
accessible in a day’s drive or train from Rome.
I don’t mean they are within 24 hours (or 16 hours of Rome). I mean that they can be as a day trip from
Rome. Florence, Naples, Pisa, Tivoli,
all can easily be reached from Rome in about 2 hours. That is just a small sampling of all the
sites available on a trip to Rome.
I had
originally planned to do Italy the same way I did Germany, as an 18-day driving
tour to see every World Heritage Site.
That would not have been enough time.
I would have needed three weeks to do it up right. That was not viable if I wanted to hold down
a job. Soon it became 10 days to see
Rome and some nearby destinations, as many WHS as I could muster within that
time. I believe my reader is seeing why
this trip was so long in the making. My
vacation days mostly went to my big summer trips and to my New Year’s
trip. For various reasons, this trip to
Rome did not fit into any of those slots I had available. Instead, it became a birthday trip.
 |
| New7 Wonders. Missing: Colosseum |
In order to have vacation time to devote to
it, I had to push it back to 2016, which fit in nicely for a few reasons. First, this is an Olympic year, and it’s
always a bonus to see an Olympic Stadium during an Olympic year. Second, I have now seen all the other New7
Wonders of the World, so it will feel really good to say “New7 Wonders Complete”
in Rome. Third, this will be my last
birthday trip before the big one that closes out this Travelogue. What better place to choose for that then
Rome? I believe that my reader will now
understand the answer to both “Why Rome?” and “Why not until now?”
I have had this trip slated for this time slot for three years now. It has finally come. In the end, it was pared down 4 days in Rome, which will include spending my birthday itself in Tuscany, and a morning in Tivoli. The rest of the time will be spent in Rome. It was not until last night that I had worked this out and figured out which day trip(s) I would take and on which day(s). It was so overwhelming that this trip was coming at last that I had trouble figuring out the details, that there was so much I wanted to do that it became too hard to figure out how to use the few days I had available.
In the end I realized that, while this may be
my first trip to Rome, it will certainly not be my last trip to Italy. All roads lead to Rome, but the traffic there
is so bad that I will be glad on future trips to avoid them and spend those
trips in the countryside and smaller cities.
I hope that my reader will enjoy reading about this trip as much as I
will enjoy embarking on it.
But first,
the Day 0 entry, what led to me arriving at this spot, the exact same gate from
which I flew to Mexico City a week ago today.
Since my flight was so late (and because my suit was still at the
cleaners), I wore regular casual Friday clothing to the office. It was one of our coworker’s last day, so I
wore his favorite orange shirt. It would
be a quiet day at the office with the management time out golfing. I didn’t realize just how quiet it would
be. I did whatever needed to be done,
but I also had time to print out whatever travel documents I needed for the
trip, very few documents due to the lightly planned nature of this trip.
I then went to class at lunchtime, stopping
for my traditional grilled cheese sandwich.
I have ordered that sandwich, the exact same way, about once a week for
over a year now. Finally today, for the
first time, he asked me if I wanted my usual.
I did, of course. I went to the
cigar shop to get a Camacho and biked up to school, leaving my cigar
outside. In class we had a fascinating
discussion about what exactly pain was, if it was merely a sensation, if it was
a state of mind, how it was similar or different to sadness, and many similar
philosophical questions. The course is
Philosophy of the Mind, and it is the most advanced philosophy course I have
ever taken. It is challenging me, and I
am gladly developing my own philosophy on the mind, which I very much looking
forward to formalizing in my term paper.
I retrieved my cigar after class and biked back down, finishing my cigar
not long after I docked the bike.
The
afternoon was even quieter and slower than the morning. Eventually, my teammate told me that I should
just leave since there was nothing left to do anyway, and that would give me
more time to make my flight. I headed to
the cigar shop to get some more cigars for the trip and lit up my traditional
pre-departure Cohiba Siglo II. I biked
back to my apartment, picking up my suit on the way, and finished the cigar as
I watched Djokovic in the US Open. With
Murray out of it, my interest in the tournament had waned. After the match (and my cigar), I showered
and shaved and changed into my suit.
After some wait, I finally found a taxi, and I was on my way to the airport.
Traffic was bad, but it was looking like a
7:30 PM arrival at the airport. My
flight was 10:05 PM, so plenty of time.
There was almost no line at check-in or security, and I looked up at the
big departures board. I have looked up
at the board so many times, mostly en route to Mexico City or Istanbul, and
wistfully read the line that said Rome.
I knew when I would be going to Rome, so I patiently waited for that day
each time. Now, that day has come.
I picked up dinner from the Turkish place in
the terminal and headed to the all-too-familiar Gate 10. It shares a boarding area with gate 8. I have possibly flown out of those two gates
more than I have any other gate in the United States. All the trips to Mexico City, Istanbul,
Seoul, they all left from this gate.
Now, at last, I was going to the place I most wanted to go: Rome.
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