Rome is another one of my many travel destinations must haves. The reason why Rome is on this list is a pretty funny one. I have to take you back to my senior year of high school. During my senior year, I worked at an after school program called Scope. From 2:45 to 5:45 every school day, I would drive myself to Old Country Road Elementary School and put out snack, interact, and help kids learn. I really was just a glorified babysitter. There was this one kid and honestly, at this moment, I cannot tell you his name and I am so disappointed in myself. I can tell you what he looks like but I cannot, for the life of me, think of his name. In my head, I see his face but nothing. Any way, he was gone on a family vacation for two weeks and when he came back he had all these stories to tell. One of the places he visited was Rome. Every week on Friday, he would bring in another souvenir that he got from Rome or the other places that he traveled to during this trip. He brought in a miniature Colosseum, a little gladiator, little gems, and so many more things that he never ran out of a new thing to show me.
I always paid a special interest to him because he didn’t really have any friends at this after school program and the first thing that he would do every Friday was come up to me to show me what he brought in because he knew I was interested in them. I would always pretend to be so jealous and honestly I might have been a little bit. I would pretend to steal his trinkets and claim that they belonged to me now. I would say that I needed them and at times he actually offered me one because he had two. I didn’t take even though he was so sincere and sweet in his offer.
Based on the stories that he told, I knew traveling to Rome was a necessity in my life. If you haven’t been able to tell, through the many times I mentioned it, I do love history. Rome is one of those places with so many cool things to see. They had sewers before sewers were a thing. Once in Rome, I would go visit the Colosseum, obviously. Also, there is the Pantheon which is a mandatory stop. It is so beautiful. Everything that was built that long ago and is still standing is a miracle in my mind. The architect that went into it, is insane. I find it truly inspiring that hours were spent planning and creating all these amazing architectural designs.
When I do visit Rome, I will make sure to track this kid down, once I remember his name, with a statue of a gladiator to say look I have one now. Rome is one of those historic sites that no matter how many years go pass, the beauty and people’s interests in it remain. The achievements of the Roman people will forever be insurmountable and amazing.
Update: His name was Arusch. I just thought of it but I thought it was funny to leave my confusion in.