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| Trevi Fountain: Wishes and Coins |
The
following is an excerpt from my Semester at Sea blog written on July 4, 2011
about one of the most powerful and moving experiences I have ever had abroad.
The train ride lasted about two hours
as I looked out the window to the Italian countryside and listened to
music. We arrived at Roma Termini, and
everyone piled out of the train. I
followed the crowd, trying to find my way out of a station I would get to know
very well over the next few days, and there it was: To my right was the lit up
city of Rome. Overcome with joy at
finally arriving safely, I approached a taxi driver and showed him the address
of my hostel. He looked at the street
and told me it was two blocks away and that I could walk. I thanked him, thinking I was very lucky to
have randomly picked this hostel and that it just happened to be right next to
the train terminal. I stopped in to a
few hotels to ask for directions along the way, and I met the kindest
people. After three days in disgusting
Naples, it was so refreshing to be among friendly faces and people who spoke
English. One of the hotels gave me a map
of Rome that would become my most treasured possession in the next few
days. On my way to the hostel I passed
by cafés and pizzerias, feeling hopelessly caught up in the romanticism (no pun
intended) of the Roman nightlife. I
found my hostel and was checked in by the nicest people. They told me how reception was there 24 hours
a day and showed me their location on my map.
After dropping off my stuff and tying up my hair, I decided that I could
not possibly just go to sleep now, which had been my original plan. I was in Rome, for goodness sake! Thus I grabbed my purse and headed out to
find a café.
I passed a few cafés but decided not
to stop, trying to find one that wasn’t terribly busy. After taking a few turns, I came across a
place that I will never forget. I almost
passed it by, thinking you could only by wine by the bottle, when a lovely old
man who worked there asked me if I wanted a table. I asked him if I could buy wine by the glass,
and he told me I could, so I took a seat outside of this charming Roman
café. He showed me the wine list, and I
ordered a glass of the house red. He
brought me the glass and some complimentary chips as I was studying my
map. “Can I ask you a question?” I
said. “Of course,” he smiled. “What is your favorite place in Rome?” I
asked. This adorable old man smiled
bigger and told me, “That is very hard to say.”
He began pointing at different places on the map and telling me why he
liked each one, but I could tell by the way that his eyes lit up that St.
Peter’s Basilica was his favorite. I
thanked him and asked him how long he had lived in Rome. He told me, “I came to Rome for the first
time when I was twenty years old, looking for luck.” I smiled and told him that I was twenty and
that this was my first time in Rome. At
this, he could not contain his joy. “You
are twenty,” he said excitedly. He told
me, “You will have a much better chance at finding luck with the boys’ eyes
always watching you.” He continued to
tell me that he had lived in London and he had lived in Paris and he had lived
in Rome, always looking for luck. “And
still today I am looking for luck,” he smiled.
We had an absolutely lovely
conversation as I sat right there thousands of miles from my family and friends
and far away from the ship, and I couldn’t help but thinking that I could never
have done this on a Semester at Sea trip, which is highly touristic. Here I was doing things the Roman natives
did, finding out about the city and the life of a native who had a very special
place for Rome in his heart. I ordered a
second glass of red wine and, as I waited and studied my map, I noticed that
the Fontana di Trevi was very close to the café where I was sitting. The Trevi Fountain is one of the most famous
points in Rome, to which people are supposed to go on their last day in Rome,
make a wish to return to the city one day, and then throw a coin with their
right hand over their left shoulder into the fountain. When an older woman came to bring me more
chips, I asked her if the street that led to the Trevi Fountain was safe at night. “Yes, very safe,” she replied happily. I told her that I thought I would go there
tonight, and she told me she thought that was a great idea. After finishing my second glass of wine, I
took out 6 Euros, 2 more than I owed them, and thanked them very much, telling
them that it had been absolutely lovely talking to them.
“Please don’t leave us,” the man
told me sweetly, and the woman laughed.
I told them I would try to come back before I left Rome and asked them
their names. Their names are Marco and
Alexandra and they are two people who I will never forget. I told them my name was Brooke, and in response
Alexandra said, “The Beautiful Brooke.”
Marco told me that he would get me my change, and I told him to keep
it. The experience that night at that
café was more than worth it. And with
that, I told them goodbye and headed down to see my first Roman monument.
I went down the street towards the
fountain and, while I had only had two glasses of wine, I was drunk off the
city I was in. As I looked up at the
lit-up buildings around me, I couldn’t believe I was actually there, in Rome,
someplace most people dream for a lifetime to see. I continued down this street nearly skipping
and came to a beautiful piazza. I saw a
few police officials and, before I even asked them, they knew I was looking for
the Trevi Fountain and pointed me in the right direction. I looked my watch, trying to make it there
before Fourth of July ended. It was
11:17.
I journeyed down a cobblestone
street following the noises of the mass of people and suddenly I was
there. The fountain was amazing, the
largest in Rome, and I was in love. For
someone who has been a Paris girl her entire life, I could not believe how
quickly Rome had stolen my heart. I took
in the sights and sounds as people were taking pictures and throwing coins into
the fountain, eating gelato and drinking wine at nearby cafés, and talking with
friends. I began taking pictures, trying
to preserve the little battery my camera had during its twenty minutes of
charge I had given it between Pompeii and catching a train to Rome. “You are the paparazzi?” someone asked
me. “Yes,” I told him, “This is my first time In Rome.” He asked me where I was from. “The U.S.” I told him. “Ohhh, well happy Independence Day, then,” he
replied. And that’s what it had been, I
thought, as the last few minutes of the day melted away and I stood before this
beautiful lit-up fountain in the heart of Rome.
This man told me his name was
Roberto and that he worked in Rome but lived in a nearby village. He explained the significance of the various
statues of the fountain and told me about the legend of making the wish to come
back to Rome and how Americans always screw it up, throwing too many
coins. We talked for a while, and I
asked him what his favorite part of Rome was.
Like Marco, it was hard for him to say, and he told me that everything
on my map was worth seeing. He added
that I would find things that would not be on my map, and that I should always
keep my eyes open, not knowing what I might find in this beautiful city.
At a little after midnight I told
Roberto that I had to head back if I wanted to have a full day in Rome
tomorrow. He said goodnight and told me
to enjoy my time in Rome, and with that I headed back up the hill to my
hostel. I found my way back with ease,
feeling like a true local after having spent only one night in Rome.
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| The Coliseum |
Back in my room I changed into my
pajamas, put my camera and iTouch along with my passport and money around my
neck and went to sleep, having never been more impressed with myself and my
ability to experience everything I had that night. They say on Semester at Sea you will do
things that you never thought were possible and this, my first night in Rome,
most certainly qualified. This night has
changed me as a person, giving me unbelievable confidence in who I am and what
I am capable of. And it is a night I
will never forget.
