Roman Ramblings

I think the need for stories is hardcoded into our DNA. Stories don’t just capture our imaginations—the very best ones help us make sense of the world as well as our place within it. Stories impart meaning, and our desire for order and answers can sometimes cause us to look back and infer cause and...

I think the need for stories is hardcoded into our DNA. Stories don’t just capture our imaginations—the very best ones help us make sense of the world as well as our place within it. Stories impart meaning, and our desire for order and answers can sometimes cause us to look back and infer cause and effect where none existed, to imbue events with significance and an interdependence that is utter fiction. We don’t simply wish to know things, we wish to know the why of things, and stories can slake this desire.

The allure of stories is universal, whether you are very young or very old, whether you have the soul of a scientist or a poet.

But I think that travelers, and especially travel writers, have a special affinity for the power of stories. When Tony & I visit places, it may look like we’re on the prowl for our next best meal or the prettiest beach or the most epic motorcycle (or tuk tuk!) adventure, but really what we’re looking for is our next story. We want to penetrate the layers of the places we visit and excavate the heart of them, find out what makes a city or a country—and, of course, its people—tick.

The ruins of the Roman Forum. And cold drinks.
The ruins of the Roman Forum. And cold drinks.

When it comes time to sit down to write about our experiences for 20YH, the first thing I ask myself is “What is the story here? What do I want others to know about this place that only I can tell?” Sometimes the stories practically write themselves, and other times, it’s much harder; sometimes you know you’re in the midst of a good story while you’re living it, watching the plot unfold around you; but other times, I have to work a little harder to fit the pieces together, and it’s only in retrospect a larger picture is formed.

The temple of Hercules

Still, there are times when I am utterly stumped, when I pore over our photos and my notes and a narrative escapes me and the best I can come up with sounds like a child’s recitation (“First we did this. Then we did this. And then we did this!”). Sometimes the truth is that as much as I would love every place to have an interesting, moving story attached to it, some places just don’t.

Piazza Popolo, Rome

Embarrassingly, Rome was one of those places for us. I say “embarrassingly”, because Rome is truly a city full of stories; ostensibly one should not have to look very far or very hard for any of them. It’s a city where history comes alive, where modern and ancient mingle effortlessly, where every photograph looks like a still from a movie. You never know what thousand-year-old structure you might stumble upon when you turn a corner, what building or vista will cause your knees to crumble in awe. It’s a special city, utterly unlike anywhere I’ve ever been, and while others have managed to capture slivers of its majesty and miraculousness in writing, I find that words fail me here.

Near the Marcello Theater

Maybe it’s because I spent three of our five days in Rome battling a cold and the resultant fever-induced haze has largely limited my ability to say anything of any substance, anything above and beyond inane trivialities like “Rome is so pretty” or “Rome is… so Rome.” It is and it is, but you don’t really need me to tell you either of those things, right? Or maybe it’s because we sort of ran ourselves ragged, chasing to and fro in a bid to experience as much of the city as we could (debilitating /disorienting illnesses aside), and as a result, just didn’t make nearly enough time for the quiet contemplation and introspection a slower pace of travel encourages. Who’s to say why I am seemingly incapable of parsing Rome… blaming my besieged immune system seems as good an excuse as any!

We spent five days in Rome because the last time I visited, I only spent three and that definitely wasn’t enough. This time, the time I wasn’t spent sick in bed was spent pounding the pavement in a bid to see as much of the city as we could. We skipped across the surface of the city, like stones across a pond, in an attempt to conquer it… but Rome wasn’t built in a day and it certainly can’t be seen in its entirety in five either. There was no way we could see all of Rome during our visit, but we gave it our best shot.

Some snippets of our time:

The Pantheon

Seeking refuge from the burning midday sun in the Pantheon and falling asleep on a cool marble bench, only to be awoken to a choir of voices I assumed was a recording but was really a touring choral group. It was one of those surreal moments, the memory of which still sends shivers up my spine.

Piazza Navona

Watching bemusedly as tourists purchased overpriced spray paint art from vendors in the Piazza Navona while others quaffed €8 glasses of coke, gawking at the spectacle of police giving chase to knock-off sunglass vendors (who would slink back in, not five minutes later).

Laughing at our own naiveté that, in a city built upon ruins, we should be surprised to find that, just like in Paris, most of the major sights were under construction.

The Spanish Steps

Wondering (just as I did on my last visit) what the big deal with the Spanish Steps is. It’s just… steps. Albeit, ones that are covered with an impressive number of tourists and rose vendors. The view from the top promises to be spectacular but it isn’t, really. For that, you have to keep climbing…

Speaking of which: Hiking up several of the seven hills the city was founded upon, most notably the Pincian Hill that overlooks the Piazza del Popolo and (our personal favorite), the Aventine Hill where there lies an orange grove and the most breathtaking view of the city.

Ancient Aquaduct, Rome

Getting lost on our way to what would be another underwhelming meal (more on this in a later post), but stumbling across an ancient aqueduct and field of wild flowers along the way.

Standing in line for hours to get into the Vatican museum, unavoidably eavesdropping on a schoolgroup of American preteens babbling on about all the things that matter so very much when you’re 12 and which barely register when you’re… significantly older than 12… Then spending hours winding through the seemingly endless collection, cracking occasional Assassin’s Creed jokes and wondering why everyone rushes through the map gallery on the way to the Sistine Chapel. The Sistine Chapel is nice—great even!—but the map gallery has always, and I suspect will always be, my very favorite part of that museum. Also, it has far less shushing and pushing.

Getting lost in the alleys and picturesque plazas of Trastevere, followed by regretful lamentations that we hadn’t splurged the extra cash to stay in this neighborhood rather than out in the suburbs, a good 40-minute tram ride from… anything.

Steph & Tony & Dale & Franca

Discovering the glory of the spritz, a bitter boozey orange concoction, during an afternoon spent catching up with our dear friends Dale & Franca of AngloItalian, Follow Us! (The drinks were good but, in truth, it was really the company that made it so special.)

And, of course: All! The! Ruins!


I wish I could say something meaningful, something poignant, about Rome, but after quite literally weeks of struggling to write something—anything—about it, I’ve made my peace with the fact that our random grab bag of memories of Rome may not make for much of a story. But they are what they are and, more importantly, they are ours. I encourage you to go and visit and collect some of your own; one day, I know we’ll be back to do more of the same.


Popular in: Italy


14 comments Leave a comment

  1. Who needs to see boring old buildings in Rome when you can just admire our beautiful faces for a while?

    If I haven’t said so enough; I ADORE the way you write and put your stories together, and this is no exception. I love the way you’ve shown Rome for what it is. It’s amazing, yes; but it’s also got it’s flaws too which are just as admirable.

    Not forgetting the outstanding pictures too.

    Dec. 30 2014 @ 4:55 pm
    1. Dale author

      Thanks so much for your kind words, Dale. It is always so nice to hear that others enjoy what we write here, especially when we have been struggling to find the right words for a particular post for a while. Thankfully I always have Tony’s excellent photography to fall back upon when words do fail me every so often! 😉

      Was so lovely seeing your beautiful faces while in Rome. Hope we’ll get the chance to do so again in 2015!

      Jan. 2 2015 @ 11:30 am
  2. Oh isn’t Rome simply gorgeous? And don’t be embarrassed – I’ve been to many places where I can’t write. Either words fail me, or sometimes I’m so busy soaking up the experience (and lost in my own spiritual/soulful bliss) that words might bring me back down to earth.

    Jan. 1 2015 @ 10:31 pm
    1. Tim | UrbanDuniya author

      Yup, Rome is a pretty one, that’s for sure. Frustratingly pretty, I would say, since it made it that much harder to write about… Guess I’ll just have to go back and give it another crack, right? 🙂

      Jan. 2 2015 @ 11:34 am
  3. I never thought about the story in this way, and you’re right, sometimes a trip/city really is just a mashup of memories with no clear plot. Only you could have described this in such a beautiful and elegant way.

    Jan. 4 2015 @ 9:56 am
    1. Colleen Brynn author

      Thanks, Colleen. I don’t think there’s anything inherently wrong with a destination or trip just being a jumble of events, but it does make it difficult to write about it in a meaningful or—perhaps more importantly when you are writing for people other than yourself—interesting way. I think I am always trying to convey to people why a place was important, why certain experiences mattered to us and made an impression, but I guess even writers & travelers need a vacation and I think Rome was that for us. We wandered around and enjoyed our time, and that was enough for us at the time, but it doesn’t make for the most riveting (or coherent blog post!). I did the best I could and I’m glad you enjoyed it!

      Jan. 4 2015 @ 5:19 pm
  4. Yay! Rome. I’ve only been there once and it was in May thank goodness, as we tend to go to Tuscany or Milan. Quite a lot LOL! It’s a great place though. All that history, ruins and yummy food. I’m so sorry it didn’t click. It happens so don’t feel bad. I had that with Singapore. I didn’t like it at all!
    Anyway, how lovely that you met up with Dale & Franca. I actually met them in Berlin at a Bloggers met-up event. They were great. It’s always nice to meet bloggers in real life. 🙂

    Jan. 6 2015 @ 1:40 am
    1. Victoria@ The British Berliner author

      It’s not that Rome didn’t click for us, it’s more that our visit was simply made up of all these random little moments that were special but didn’t necessarily thread together to form a coherent narrative. I guess our time there was just really personal in a way that made it difficult to write about in a way that would be equally meaningful to people who weren’t there.

      Meeting up with fellow travelers and bloggers has been one of our highlights in our own travels. We feel so lucky that this was actually the FOURTH time we had met up with Dale & Franca! Hope one day we’ll be able to sit down with you!

      Jan. 7 2015 @ 1:23 pm
      1. Stephenie Harrison

        I hope so too. It would be an absolute pleasure!

        Jan. 7 2015 @ 1:32 pm
  5. For this being a non-story, you still tell it pretty well 😉

    I often have the same problem organizing my thoughts after a trip or special activity. Like you said, sometimes the stories write themselves. But other times the post is more a vehicle for the photographs taken, and that’s okay too. I’m having a heck of a time figuring what I want to say about my recent week in Istanbul, so I’ll probably start with the food 🙂

    Jan. 15 2015 @ 2:50 am
    1. Heather @ Ferreting Out the Fun author

      Aw, thanks Heather! I too often feel tempted to just start talking about food whenever I don’t know how to tackle a destination, but I worry that people might get bored of one food post after the other… Then again, is that really possible?!? Who doesn’t love drooling over food photos? 😛

      Jan. 15 2015 @ 1:12 pm
      1. Stephenie Harrison

        I certainly never tire of food photos! Though I do get embarrassed by sloppy typos. Please excuse the lack of proofreading on my original comment!

        Jan. 15 2015 @ 2:20 pm
        1. Heather @ Ferreting Out the Fun author

          I’ve edited the typo and corrected it so you no longer need to be embarrassed!

          Jan. 15 2015 @ 4:38 pm
  6. Once again stunning pictures, Stephenie 🙂 I love Rome too. Art everywhere!

    Jul. 3 2015 @ 3:45 am

We want to hear from you!

Required fields are marked with red.

Anything you share with us will not be published, traded, sold or otherwise used outside this site in any way, ever. We will not spam you.

We moderate comments, so if you haven't posted with us before and your comment doesn't show up right away, we will get to it, no need to post it twice. Thanks for your patience!

Name is required. You can only use alphanumeric characters (a-z, A-Z).