Roman Holiday Realities

Rome was to be the beginning of my adventure. Legend has it that the great city was founded by two brothers: Romulus and Remus in 753 BC. They were the sons of Rhea and Mars, the god of war, and decided to build a city. In a fight about who should be king Romulus killed Remus and became ruler of the new city of Rome.

I woke up for a breakfast of bread, bread and more bread. Which I later realised was all I was ever going to get for breakfast in Italy. As I trekked out to my first destination, I soon found that electing to cross Rome’s many roads was akin to signing a death warrant. “Insane” is probably the most suitable way to describe how Italians drive. With little attention paid to the bold white stripes of pedestrian crossings, I found the best policy was to cross with a passing nun, of which there are a conveniently large number.

After an extremely nerve-racking ten minute walk through busy streets, I arrived at the Colosseum. Previously known as the Flavian Amphitheater, it was one of the largest and most impressive structures of its time and still is today. It is rich in history, but the hundreds of people and animals who fought and died in the name of entertainment, lingered in the back of my mind. Arriving at the foot of the Colosseum is awe-inspiring; it looks huge in pictures, but it truly is a monstrous structure. That an ancient civilisation could create such a monumental architectural achievement without the ease of modern technologies is fascinating.

When I finished with the Colosseum’s grandeur, I went off to explore modern Rome, renowned for its markets and high end fashion stores. But there must come a time in all great travels when you are hit with a sudden and inconvenient need for a bathroom. What should have been a relatively simple dilemma to solve soon turned into a quest of almost epic proportions. While others frolicked through Roman shopping thrills, I staggered in and out of dangerous traffic, dodged unwanted male attention. It was an afternoon spent floundering through an unknown city, with an uncomfortably full bladder and an ironically thirsty mouth as my only companions. An unpublicised fact about Rome: there are absolutely no public toilets in any kind of convenient location. Shamefully, McDonald's saved me.

Rome is culturally rich with endless avenues for exploration. This was just a small portion of my Roman holiday but I was hungry for the next day full of adventures and mishaps in my new favourite place on earth.