the last time i was in rome it was the winter of 2006 and the city didn’t really have a big impact on me. the skies were grey, so the beautiful color of the people and buildings couldn’t shine as they are in the beautiful sunlight i am so blessed to experience on this journey.
my bus is parked just inside the city periphery and i can reach the buzzing streets of the city center in just 20 min using the public transport system. to start the 4 day stay in italy’s capital i went to the botanical garden to one work on the materials section of this blog and second think about the photographic goals of this visit.
coming from florence i was already used to hoards of tourists, but i didn’t expect roma to have the same „problem“. i don’t consider myself belonging to this group of people and the selfie-stick gopro invasion of europe. but i am after all one of the tourists and don’t speak any italian so i can’t judge. all that is left for me is to imagine all these beautiful piazzas without the travellers and their parasites leeching on their filled wallets. „are you visiting the sistine chapel“ „skip the line“ „selfie sticks for good price“ and horrible spraypaint art is so common that one just accepts the existence of this unaesthetic part of roma.
nevertheless the beauty of roma’s architecture and love of detail outshines everything. i never felt as if i was in a 3 million people metropole. the small streets are made for the cute fiat 500s just as the cafes are made for the romans to sit and enjoy a panino and coffee. it feels as if the history is present and the beauty of old and new things just perfectly go hand in hand. italian style in design, fashion and architecture is as mature as the river tiber and as sophisticated as the uniforms of the carabinieri.
simply put i am in love with roma and very glad that i have come back almost 10 years later wiping the grey skies out of my memory.