"Our life is frittered away by detail. Simplify, simplify." Henry David Thoreau
The second day in Rome, we ate in the center of the Roman Forum. We spread out our four euro picnic of tomatoes, Sorrento olive oil, fresh baked bread, kiwis, and oranges with as much pleasure as the emperors found there in ancient banquets. It is simple, but somehow much more perfect than a restaurant. After months of British fog, there is no joy like tomatoes and olive oil in the sun.
Up above the crowds on Palatine Hill, we circled the stones and arches to the House of Augustus. We had rounded the corner of history and found the past alive. There was actually an echo of wind pipes (from a Peruvian street performer outside the ruins). It sounded like the old god Pan was still in the grass playing his pipes. As I passed each stone wall, I could almost feel a nymph go running by me with Apollo chasing behind. When I turned the corner, there was only a tree there to mark her transformation.
Imagine sneaking over the gates at night and finding a table prepared for a feast, heavy with olives, grapes, bread, and meats. Imagine Bacchus still hosting his parties here. I hear the clash of wine cups and the roar of his guests in the trees. Grazie, Roma, for inviting us to share your beauty.
There are places that take my breath away, but then there are sights that give me back my breath. Rome restores. It’s peach hued stucco walls, it’s gelaterias, it’s crowds of Italians and tourists walking the streets for a nightly passeggiata that put passion back into each day. My friend, seeing the locals at night, said with amazement, “Italians live like we would only live on holiday.” And what a holiday Italian life is!
I’m writing on a green hillside above the city, the eternal city. I believe Rome is eternal not only because of its past and present glory, but because time is counted differently here. The ever present to-do list is washed away by the understanding that we are small before history. The stress of ‘soon,’ ‘next,’ and ‘tomorrow’ pales before the certainty that some beauty lasts, but our days will not. And so, Rome’s eternal nature is a gentle smile from the city, reminding us that we are not eternal, but that it is alright. Some things remain. Greatness remains. Now sit and look at greatness with a gelato.