Living in a Museum

A few weeks ago Alan Epstein, author of As the Romans Do: An American Family’s Italian Odyssey, visited IES. He  gave a passionate lecture about the beauty of the art, architecture, and history here in Rome. Epstein reminded me of why I fell in love with this beautiful city I now call home. I am living in a museum that is more than 3,000 years old. Every day I walk on cobbled-stone streets and I pass, and on occasion visit, many of the world’s and the Catholic Church’s greatest (and oldest) structures. No matter where you go in Rome, there is always a story to unveil.

This city has a character of its own that simply cannot be ignored. There is always traffic, which essentially means that drivers and motorcyclists make their own traffic lanes on a daily basis. They also park wherever they fit (sometimes that means the sidewalk) and in whatever direction they prefer. I should also note that in Rome, your hands tend to do most of the talking. And eating is thee time to socialize, which means that meals, especially dinner, lasts several hours. Moreover, people in Rome seem to take their time to do just about everything. If you walk too fast you might miss the magic of this place, but even then, it’s unlikely. I will be spending my Valentine’s Day getting lost in the small yet beautiful streets of Rome. As Epstein reminded me, “In America there is infinite space and no time, but in Italy, there is infinite time and no space.”