Rome. Do I like it?
So the first destination was (is?) Rome.
All started well, had a plane to catch at 9 AM. Left home at 6 AM, forgot the jacket, forgot the phone charger, forgot the water bottle… Like I said, all started well…
Long story short, caught the plane, slept in the flight, landed alive (actually that’s it, not long at all).
Now. Rome. I arrived at the Ciampini airport and hopped on the shuttle to Roma Termini the main train/bus station in Rome. During the duration of th etrip what strooke me the most was the feeling of familiarity with Portugal, roads under repair, a building architecture that resembles ours (actually we were probably the ones being influenced… But still…), and upon arrival a bunch of people that had no characteristic to differentiate them from Portuguese other than the language. Even in the city the architecture is very similar to some places in Lisbon.
Essentially I was home, and that was not where I wanted to be. I wanted to be in a new country that felt like nothing I had seen before, and Rome wasn’t it.
As you can imagine, panic ensues. Had I travelled here for nothing? I started walking and seeing the sights, the buildings, the people. I found my hostel and checked in.

View from the hostel room.
The people at the hostel were nice, everything was easy, I stored my stuff and got my smaller backpack with snacks and water and of went to explore the city I didn’t like (or so i tought).

The coliseum (no shit sherlock…)
I started walking and used google maps to find the coliseum (mistake one) that I found to be as “touristy” as anything can be (a true sea of people). I walked around it for a bit and made a decision… If I don’t see the main attractions so be it, but I’ll find shit my own way.
And for the rest of the day google maps was used only to find out where I was and what was I visiting/looking at rather than where to choose where to go next.

Basilica Papale di Santa Maria Maggiore (found by accident as all should be)
In the light of this newly found freedom Rome was now beautiful, and old, and worth discovering on foot as any city usually is.
I will still visit some “sea of people spots” but I won’t let that be the focus of this trip, that is for sure.
Now heart and share (you know you want to). And if you haven’t read, here I am https://medium.com/@Nocor/me-hi-c7f251fe2a05
