"The City of Popes"

 
"The City of Popes"

Event: Papal Audience

Location: St. Peter's Square, Vatican City, Rome (2017) 

    My family traveled to Europe, most particularly to countries Italy, Luxembourg, and Belgium to name a few, it was the spring of the year 2017. We traveled to this distant land, so to enjoy and relax the sceneries that are pretty as a picture, we also traveled to Europe as so to meet up with some relatives and to check out some schools and universities on where I may enroll into by the time I needed to do so.

    Rome came to be in the year 753 B.C. and according to tradition it was founded by the twin named, Romulus and Remus. Rome was known to be the center of the world during the reign of Julius Cesar, with its modern, successful, and innovative techniques, legions, ideologies, and strategies in defense, conquests, and trade. Rome has over time seen an experienced a lot of festivities and tragedies as Rome has also been the center for conquest by its neighboring nations and barbaric groups that are active and present during their time as they see Rome as a bright beacon of wealth, strength, hope, and power. 

    Rome has also been one of the center or notable locations of the spread of Christianity as Paul and Peter the Apostles of Jesus went to the city of Rome to preach and proclaim Christianity or the wisdom of God. Both Paul and Peter are notably executed and are buried among the catacombs of Rome. It is commonly believed by experts that Peter the Apostle of Christ is buried in the Vatican Hill or underneath the Basilica of St. Peter in modern day Vatican City which is the heart of all Catholic Church, and at the time of this writing the current head of the Vatican is Pope Frances an Argentinian Jesuit Pope, he is considered as the first ever Pope from Latin America, and he is also often called as the "People's Pope" as he often likes to get near and interact with the people around him, he is also associated to be a more of a modern Pope as he is more open to change and to interreligious dialogue than to his most of his predecessors.

    Even if the city of Rome has a limited area of 1,285 km² it still has a lot of tourist destinations a beginner or amateur tourist must look into first so to appreciate history and travel itself, some notable or famous tourist attractions in Rome are the Colosseum, Castel Sant'Angelo, Pantheon,  Trevi Fountain, and the Vatican City in which is the Center of all of the Christian Faith most especially the Catholic Faith and even though the Vatican City has a limited size of territory of having only 44 hectares or 110 acres there are still a lot of sceneries and histories within its walls, wherein if walls or streets able to talk they may have already written a 1 or more series of information about Rome and the Vatican City itself, some notable tourist sites in Vatican City are the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican Museum in which entertains visitors to range about 5 million - 6 million visitors per year in which the museum has also been a source of funding for the Church, but through the current Covid-9 pandemic it has been limited to closed as for safety reasons and health protocols enforced by the state and its neighboring allies.

    My experience in traveling to Rome is that people most particularly taxi drivers there are more organized and disciplined, but some are still cheating the fares so to earn some more money than what really is right, but most taxi drivers in Rome only pick-up and drop-off passengers in a particular area or in a designated taxi parking. Rome is also mostly crowded with tens of thousands of visitors roam all around the city as tourist or resident. The food and drinks in Rome are great but are truly unique from its counterparts around the globe, these are foods and drinks such as such as the pizzas, pastas, and much more that truly allows you to experience unique and authentic foods of their region, but also don't expect to receive rice as a regular meal as people in Rome often eats bread and coffee as a breakfast rather than eating heavy meals such as rice meals and such.

    So in conclusion, traveling to Rome has been a fun and adventurous experience in which I wish may go back to, through all the bad experiences I got in Rome as same with the other places that I have been on is that it's often best to explore an experience new things in life while at the same time being able to relax and enjoy the moment that has been given to you.