Good, bad and ugly in Rome
Bella Roma! I am a college professor, and together with a colleague we escorted 21 students through Rome’s classical treasures in May ’07. On my final night, as I packed, I watched a spaghetti Western on the hotel TV. It got me thinking about “the good, the bad and the ugly” of our trip.
The good — Rome is vast, multilayered and wonderful. Much of it is free: the Basilica of St. Peter’s, the Forum, the fountains, the Pantheon and the hundreds of churches. There is little that is as marvelous as having a beer in the Campo de’ Fiori in the evening as children play and vendors pack up their flowers for the day.
Rome offers the visitor so many treasures. The cibo e vino (food and wine) are wonderful and much of it so inexpensive. By just stepping off the square an insolato (block) or two, my students and I found the places where Romans eat and at prices Romans pay. I enjoyed gelato for €2, a glass of wine for €1 and pizza Margherita for €5.
Speaking of Romans, these folks were genuinely good and kind to my group of American college kids. In the course of eight days, I asked many, many local people, “Dové (Where is) _____ Street?,” and each and every person answered cheerfully and helpfully.
I engaged in many nice chats with people I assumed were Roman. We spoke in a mixture of English and Italian. No one once corrected my poor command of Italiano; rather, each smiled and replied as best he could.
Rome, succinctly put, is full of good places, good edibles and good people. . . for the most part.
The Bad — Rome had bad people, too. The people who robbed my two students, one snatching an unwatched wallet and one a pickpocket, were really rotten.
Theft is all a part of travel, of course. The danger and the hassle add an edge to being abroad. Losing an expensive camera with over 400 digital photographs is a tough lesson to learn at the tender age of 20.
For many of my suburban American travelers, life is sheltered from the bad side of humanity. Riding around on the Rome Metro has a way of showing a traveler the bad and, dare we say. . .
The ugly — Rome is a vivid, modern city atop ancient ruins of immeasurable value. And, yet, the contemporary world is often one of too-real ugliness: graffiti, litter, noise, dirt, soot, crowds and confusion.
Traveling in May, we found the Metro system swelteringly humid. The Sistine Chapel’s crowds could be rivaled only by those of the Metro. Often, we would press our way onto already-packed train cars, crushed together like uncomfortable lovers in the odd embrace of city underground travelers. To breathe in someone else’s body odor can be described only as “ugly.”
That’s Rome, in all its glory and gory detail. Is it worth it to travel to the Eternal City? I think so, but the treasures come at a price. To see the Colosseum lit at night, you need to ride a stinking subway while clutching your purse tight to your bosom. Buon viaggio!
JENNIFER M. EISENLAU
Boulder, CO