When In Rome
- Anushka Shrestha
- Dec 5, 2016
- 3 min read
How would you react if you found out that you will be living in the eternal city for three whole months? Awe? Disbelief? Excitement? Nervousness? I felt all this and more when this time last year, I read my email. For the first time ever, a student from Australia was going to be working as an intern inside the magnificent country located inside Rome. Yes, you read that right, the Vatican City State is a country inside a city and that is where I worked for three months! Talk about interesting internships! This particular post though is dedicated to the city which was my humble abode, no wait, my grand abode maybe I should call it-the city of Rome.
I had with me my 2 year old Sony Experia Z as my only camera (well I had another one, but I got pick-pocketed) to capture my moments. Not to mention it was mostly a selfie stick and me, as most of my friends had a different schedule to mine, and asking a stranger to take my only remaining phone didn't seem like a great idea most of the times. Nevertheless, here are some moments, when in Rome!
View from Giannicolo (Janniculum Hill). My university residence was just down this hill. Walk (or bus) to work was a beautiful ride with a view! It looks equally amazing during the night if not more, but my poor camera couldn't capture it!
This was one of the structures I could see from the Janniculum Hill, and was just ten times more awesome from up front! On top of the Altar of the Fatherland in Piazza Venezia. A fairly inexpensive 7 Euro life ride up, worth the view.
View from the top of the Altar of the Fatherland.
Piazza del Popolo-centred by the oldest obelisk in Rome.
The postcard picture ;) . Had to pinch myself to believe that I was standing in front of the Colosseum!
And then inside it! All the intricate details you see at the base used to be the behind-the-scenes underground structure that would contain challenges for the contesting gladiators.
The Roman Forum- for centuries the center of Roman public life: the site of triumphal processions and elections; the venue for public speeches, criminal trials, and gladiatorial matches; and the centre of commercial affairs. Here statues and monuments commemorated the city's great men. The Forum today is a sprawling ruin of architectural fragments and intermittent archaeological excavations attracting millions sightseers yearly!
The iconic Trevi fountain.
Castel Sant'Angelo, which was once the tallest building in Rome, at one time also served as refuge for the Pope (during the "Sack of Rome").
At Trastevere, always bustling with tourists, here with a friend of mine with an angelic voice!
And during night time, there would be a line up of amazing artists, I wish I had the money to buy this stuff! Student travels allow me to be stingy OK (but no holding back on the appreciation, they're amazing!)
Spanish Steps at Piazza di Spagna.
Bocca della Verità, the "mouth of truth" is said to bite your hand off if you lie! (also well known from the classis movie Roman Holiday.
The magnificent art gallery, Galleria Borghese houses numerous splendid pieces of artwork This one had me staring in aawe for many minutes. This masterpiece captures the abduction of Proserpina. The way his hand is carved to sink into her flesh, the detail of the tears-gosh, spellbound I was!
On the oldest road of Rome-The Appian Way.
At Piazza Navona.
With my favorite story teller Clare- always so happy to explain the history, architecture and answer my thousands of questions about Rome, Catholicism, and even America!
I felt more at home in Rome living there for 90 days than I have felt at Sydney after being here for almost 3 years. Maybe it was the brick buildings, or the slight anarchy, or perhaps the religious inclination (I am used to seeing a Ganesthan around every corner in Kathmandu, similar to the many beautiful churches in Rome!), Rome was indeed, an adventure of a lifetime-it was the beginning of Anka's travels.
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