We arrived in Rome early Thursday morning and immediately I could spot the differences between Greece and Italy. As we drove from the airport to our hotel, men donning suits and ties zoomed past our bus on motorcycles, though wider streets allowed us to drive more quickly than in Athens. The sidewalks outside our moving bus were dotted with beautiful fountains, and the buildings appeared taller and wider, maybe even a little newer than those in Greece. Arriving in a completely different city was at first a little shocking, but after dining at a local restaurant and tasting the most delicious pasta with red-sauce I've ever had, I decided that this new city was a welcome change, even though I will greatly miss the feta cheese and vegetable salads.
The day after our arrival we set out on a 3 hour bus ride to Pompeii, the ancient city that was destroyed by Vesuvius. We walked through the large, well-preserved buildings, pointing out the grainery, public bathroom, and even grooves in the streets from old chariots.We then paused in the middle of the city center to read a young boy's account of the disaster that he witnessed from his own home. As we stood in a clump, reading portions aloud, we could see Vesuvius staring down at us in the distance. The Volcano, though huge, looks so calm that it's shocking to think it could have ruined an entire city so long ago.
Today we visited the Colloseum and the Capitoline Museum. When we were in Athens, I found that it was hard to imagine the ancient people living or working inside the buildings because they were just large, empty spaces. However, in the Colloseum, I could truly picture the kind of people who would have sat in the stands or fought hand-to-hand combat in the arena. Not only because I've seen the movie "Gladiator", where the actors fight inside the Colloseum, but because the building looks like a modern-day sports stadium. Rome, as a whole, gives off a sense of familiarity that I did not find in Greece because everything about it seems more like home. The city is almost comfortable, but I cannot wait to explore much more and see things I could never see back in nyc.
