The Seven Hills of Rome

Yesterday I felt I hiked them all, poring over travel guides and ThingsYou Must Not Miss: The Pantheon, the Roman Forum, the Colosseum, the Spanish Steps, the Vatican Museums, the Piazza del Campidoglio. And then there are many, many things that only a damned fool WOULD miss: the Capitoline Museums, the Villa Borghese, and numerous churches with priceless art you illuminate by dropping coins (note: be sure to bring) into a slot to turn on lights. That would be overscheduled damned fools such as ourselves.

I made lists. I read up on hours of admission and tickets and the historical significance of various ruins. I read that I can't wear shorts or sleeveless tops in churches (ha! not a chance and it's not because of reverence). I read that Andy Warhol commented that, "Rome, Italy, is an example of what happens when the buildings in a city last too long."

I have a bossy Rome guide that assumes you have a BA in Art History and a thirst for viewing paintings that cannot be slaked, and a second, laidback guide that merely suggests where you might want to go. I came to a paragraph in the second guide that advises starting with a simple walk in Rome, anywhere you like. I began to breathe more deeply. Walking I can do. In fact, wandering is even better, less businesslike, more likely to yield the serendipitous discovery. I plotted where our hotel is, not far from the Trevi Fountain, and then various Must-See's and found most are within walking distance. A wander could be quite fruitful.

Turns out we're in Rome over Easter weekend. We arrive on Good Friday. The pope himself makes a trek up Capitoline Hill, I believe, and that evening and we could join thousands of pilgrims who line his route, a once-in-a lifetime experience. Or we could sit in the garden of our hotel and drink wine. Anne Lamott advises writers to "take their sticky hands off the controls," and I think I'm going to try it.

There's a fine line between prudent planning vs. obsessing on every detail so you're never caught short. Travel guide, even the laidback ones, have a frantic quality, of the writer thinking of just one more thing, finger in the air, you really have to see. Hell with it. I'm going to wander.