Jerrywrites: Rome Escapade - Dream to Reality

In my childhood days, I always daydreamed. I went out in the woods sitting in the shade of the trees, or climbing as high as I could and dreamed of places to travel. I heard of Rome, the pope, Vatican, and the Roman empire. I read stories in the history books that I borrowed from my classmate. I loved reading the history of the world, the culture, the demography, and the architectures that signify the modernity of the medieval times. I was always amazed by the greatness of human ingenuity.

that's not me, illustration my childhood

I did more more reading about the Roman Empire and the Roman gods and goddesses. Although, I was not astonished by what I learned, I was fascinated and puzzled. I was in my high school then when I started to read the stories of Jesus Christ because of its connection to the Roman Empire. It was interesting to fathom the Romans' power and how they control the world for hundreds or thousands of years, if I'm not mistaken.

The dream of travel to Rome never entered my mind during my early days. My family lived in an average Filipino lifestyle. Traveling has never been in our calendar, I can't remember planning to take a pleasure trip out of my little town. However, reading has taken me beyond the borders of my physical environment.

There we go, in 2010 my wife and I visited Europe. I made some research of what country should we visit first. I considered Greece because of their Greek mythology taught in my literature classes, Germany because of Hitler, and maybe Spain because of the culture they imparted in the Philippine society-Catholicism. At last, we decided to go for Rome, Italy. We were both excited to see Vatican City, the seat of Christianity and Catholicism. My wife who's a devoted Catholic was wowed with the idea of visiting the Vatican in Rome. Now, the dream of travel in my early childhood has become a reality.

The travel to Italy had coincided with our wedding anniversary, September 29, also the feast of my well admired saint, St. Francis of Assissi. Excitement filled our trip, we booked the best flight we can to Rome through British Airways with four hour stop over in London Heathrow. The waiting at Heathrow Airport seemed a long day. I regret not to take the direct flight to Rome, but to do so would have doubled our airfare.

We arrived at Fiumicino airport in Rome at noon time. I didn't feel exhausted (the usual feeling I felt during long travels) because of my excitement. To set foot in Italy was truly an extraordinary experience. It was like a dream standing at the immigration line and waiting by the carousel for our luggage.

Basilica di Santa Maria Magiore

inside the Basilica

After checking in at the hotel, we freshen up and began our tour. Our first stop was at the hotel's restaurant and dine on some pizza. We walked to the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, the first famous spot that we set a foot on. The Bassilica was astonishing, we we amazed by the ancient architectural designs. The big church hall, now a tourist site was one of the must to see in Rome. The altar and artifacts inside was a creation of the best architects in the medieval ages. Thank heavens, this place was very near our hotel.

The next must see was the Colosseum, the place where the gladiators fought to death. This is one of the most famous structures. In every step I made to this place, I couldn't help but think of the hardships and sufferings of the slaves who built this magnificent structure. Though, the Colosseum has an entrance fee, we were fortunate enough that on September 27, if my memory was correct, it was Italy's tourism day. We entered the place for FREE, saved forty euro, but spent it on dinner. Every part of the Colosseum was amazing, a masterpiece or priceless human creation. It was a remnant that reminisced the Roman empire.