Like in the Movies

Rome is fabulous. That is what it boils down to really. Once you get there it is pretty obvious why it is the setting for so many movies. You cannot walk more than a couple of blocks without finding something amazing. I suppose that happens in a city that is so old. One nick name for Rome is The Eternal City, and it certainly feels that way. Walking around Rome you can feel the history and everywhere you go could be a movie set. In fact we actually passed through some narrow streets that were being set up for just that purpose. Of course most major cities are the settings for movies London, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Paris, and others are also the settings for many movies, but when I visit them most areas of those cities don’t look like movie sets. Everywhere you walk in Rome could be from a scene in a movie.

Of course St. Peter’s Square, the Colosseum, Palatine Hill, Many of the ruins, the fountains, the churches, Castel Sant'Angelo, and other big attractions leap to life and have a huge presence that could be a film back drop. But so does every little corner shop, pasta bar, restaurant, gelato stand, or apartment building for that matter. It is simply a fascinating place to be. Every neighborhood in most cities has its own feel, in Rome this also includes its own look and architecture. Depending on when that part of the city was built certainly is the main driver for this. By the Colosseum of course everything is still Roman, and mostly in ruins. But you still get the feel. As you travel north toward the new city center you go through the most medieval of areas. Once you get to the Vatican things are larger newer and the streets widen. So each area has its own distinct feel.

What is funny about all this is that the residents play this up. Every attraction you go to has vendors surrounding it selling souvenirs. Mostly trinkets and models of the attractions around the city, but if the site was in any famous or not so famous movie they also sell calendars, posters, photos, and other merchandise with stills from those scenes in the movie(s). For instance if you visit the Mouth Of Truth after waiting in line to get your photo and walking through the actual church you enter a small shop. In this shop are dozens of products with stills from the movie Roman Holiday. Interestingly enough a movie I never did get around to seeing. This particular movie shows up a lot throughout Rome, who knew? At any rate the city is an amazing place to visit and I’ll be watching for it on the big screen.