Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day; Don’t expect to See it in One Either

This blog post was updated on October 22, 2018.

I attended a blog conference in Italy recently, and because of that, I had the need to fly both in and out of Rome from Turkey. What better reason to book a stopover in Rome, right?

Exactly.  Seeing how I studied abroad in Italy, this Rome stopover was going to be pure fun and reminiscing, but for my boyfriend, who had never even been to Italy before, it was his one chance to explore the ancient city.  Perhaps we should’ve stayed more than a single night?

“No, no, no,” he said.  “One day will be fine.”  We did have many other places to see after this stop.

And surprisingly, we saw quite a bit in a day.  When we arrived at our accommodation and asked for the map and key tourist attractions to be marked out, the desk attendant actually stated that Rome is a walking city.  In fact, you could walk from one side to the other in about an hour.

So, in an evening we walked.  We headed towards the Trevi Fountain, ate some gelato, and then made sure to toss some coins behind our heads to ensure a return trip to this country (one of the Roman legends to experience on any trip).  And then we visited the Forum, reminiscing about famous Roman-based movies in the process before I spouted off random facts I picked up in my high school Latin class about Trajan’s Column.  Finally, we ordered pizzas at a local cafe before spending the evening strolling around the lit-up Colosseum in all its glory, right next to the Arch of Constantine (and with view of the Arch of Titus).

For a stopover, we felt pretty proud of the grounds covered in Rome, but as we headed back to our accommodation for the night, I started to remember the real Rome – the Rome of which we didn’t even scratch the surface.

Rome is a city that is full of one secret below another – one tale that leads you around the corner to the next.  We didn’t see the underground Colosseum tour, all of the four spooky spots in Rome, and we didn’t even get close to the Vatican (in photo).

Rome, you are an ancient, complex city.  Why did we ever think one day would really suffice?
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