Rome-the way I saw it

I had a very old dream to visit Rome, since I was a teenager. The sudden decision of my brother to take me there, made me anxious and curious to visit it. It’s too freaking hot, over 45 Grade Celcius, but it’s still ok to step on the black cobblestones and watch around the remains of The Roman Empire. You can buy a sun hat for five euros, if you don’t like the sun. If you feel thirsty, you can buy a bottle of water for one euro from any ambulant on the street, who beg you to buy something. The bottle has still ice in it, but you can drink water for free from the fountains, if you don’t have any more money left. The water is damn cold and tastes so good. There are no trees at all, for God’s sake. The only trees, I barely see, are planted on top of the roofs, even on few balconies.

My brother Shpetim parked the car on one of the streets, close by the main train station, just for 4 Euros for 8 hours. It took us almost 6 hours drive from Verona for over 500 kilometers. We woke up at three o’clock in the morning, in order to void traffic at the entrance of the city. It’s the first time in my life that I visit Rome the capital of the world and I feel so excited. So far it looks just like another city. I know that I am wrong, as soon as I see the first ruins of The Roman Empire. You don’t have to try hard to find them, since they are everywhere. The city penetrates slowly inside my veins, like drug, which affected me in the afternoon, after I got back to Verona.

I just got off a Hop On and Hop Off double Decker bus, still wandering, what made these walls stand for more than 2000 years. The historians, the archeologists and modern builders suggest that the Romans used to mix the volcano ash with cement and other materials. According to myth, Rome was built by Romulus and Remus, the twin brothers. Their mother Rea Silvia was forced by her uncle Amulus to become a Vestal Virgin, so she sworn to chastity. But she got pregnant by the god Mars and soon gave birth to Romulus and Remus. Her uncle Amulus found out and had them abandoned to die in the river Tiber. Long story short, they were saved several times. They grew up and killed their uncle and restored their grandfather Numitor to his throne. The two brothers didn’t agree, where to build the city, so Romulus killed Remus and built Rome at Palatine Hill. He called the new city by his own name. Rome is full with the ghosts of the past. One of them is Beatrice Cenci, who walks during the night over Sant Angelo’s bridge with the severed head in her own hands. She got raped by her father Francesco, since she was a child.

TERMINI station, where Largo di Villa Peretti is located, is behind me, as I go toward SANTA MARIA MAGGIORE. I take a picture of myself in front of Colosseo, as hundreds of people go through Via di San Gregorio. The whole world is at CIRCO MASSIMO , the opposite of Piazzale Ugo La Malfa. I see white people, dark and yellow, but very few black. Probably they can not afford a very expensive vacation. One day tour is not enough to walk through VIA DEL TEATRO MARCELLO . On the opposite you can see Teatro Della Cometa.

I get on the double Decker bus again and feel more comfortable in this hot day. The speaker reads the tour guide in six languages through your earphones. He introduces us to ISOLA TIBERINA at the Piazza di Monte Savello. The miracle of the world is SAN PIETRO itself, Via della Conciliazione. Vatican City appears in front of me with all his marbles, gold and dust. Thousands of tourists mix with each other. The main business here is the tourists themselves. Even the pizza shops depend on them. An old man around seventies comes out of his pizza shop and almost begs us to get into his pizza parlor. It looks like the tourists at CASTEL SANT'ANGELO are not hungry. They keep following their tour heading to Piazza Ponte Sant'Angelo. A slice of pizza is three Euros. It’s thick crust, a lot of toppings, but not cooked well and doughy. I am not saying all the pizzas are the same in Rome, but my brother, for example, prefers a pizza shop in Verona. You don’t see any Pizza Hut here, Pizza Pizza either. There is no franchise pizza shop here at all. The only franchise you can see is only MacDonald. The cheese burgers are pretty cheap, less than two Euros each, but they fit well in your empty stomach. The speaker announces AUGUSTO IMPERATORE, as we arrive at Piazza Augusto Imperatore. It’s too hard to remember all these Italian names, but a booklet in your hand is very helpful. Here it comes TREVI, as the bus drives through Via del Trittone.

As I walk through Via Barberini, the speaker announced that the Barbarians built the fountain on the remains of the historic site. I laugh, as the history of the other side of the seashore crosses my mind. These Romans were the same Romans who invaded Illyria and wiped more than 230 Illyrian cities, in revenge of Queen Teuta, who used to pirate with her ships at the seashore of Sicily.

At the Museum of Italian Emigrants, I stand in front of a huge notebook, signed by hundreds of Italians, who worked overseas, in United Stated and abroad, in support of fascism. Of course, the fascism wouldn’t come to power, if it wasn’t the will of the Italian People at that time. I see old suitcases, old shirts and hats and I feel sorry for my country, which didn’t save a single museum for the dictator Enver Hoxha.

I take a picture inside Pantheon, in front of the grave of Vittorio Emanuele the Second, who is called “il padre del popolo”. His name reminds me Vittorio Emanuele The Third, who got shot in Albania by Vasil Laci. His grave is not here of course. There is nothing to be proud of Vittorio Emanuele the Third, despite the fact that the Italian fascists built the strongest and the finest buildings in Tirana, Albania, during the Italian occupation. ...