I watched Interstellar last week, a film that takes you away for 3 hours on a journey that combines the epic with the intimate. It's easily one of my favourite films I've seen all year, it leaves you with a raw, invasive feeling of the vast world we live in. It had rained while I was in the cinema as I walked out into the Roman streets at 1am, the cobbles were glistening with the orange glow of the street lamps.
Rome is great to walk around, you have a labyrinth of winding, tiny streets all cramped up in the centre. Enclosed footbridges crossing the street above you, ostentatious sculptures, innocuous entrances leading to hidden, spectacular interiors. Piazza Venezia is more or less the centre of the city. At one end of the square you have the imposing Altare della Patria (Vittorio Emanuele Monument) and at the other Via Del Corso which dissects the city in two with a straight 2 km run all the way to Piazza del Popolo in the northern tip of ancient Rome. The west side of the Corso is where my little flat is, a short walk from the Pantheon, Piazza Navona, Campo di Fiori.Through walking in and out of these winding streets for the past month, this ancient jigsaw is roughly in place while leaving enough room for daily discoveries.
The cinema is a 8 minute zig zag north from my flat. I only recently found out that I had been walking past the prime ministers residence (Palazzo Chigi) and parliament which are both fairly indiscreet judging by Roman standards. My life and current world seemed very small on the walk back. The intensity and importance on screen contrasting with the casual comfort and drifting I seem to be doing right now. It was a reminder that life is best lived when chasing the things you are truly passionate about.
I mentioned the above to one of my friends here, about surviving/thriving. Maybe I put too much pressure on doing the latter when in many ways survival here is a big step and something that you would take a lot from, even if from your current perspective it seems like you are running just to stand still. She mentioned how being a tortoise and not a hare is what's needed here. Little steps, building a routine, keeping yourself busy with the daily things.
Lacrosse is one of the things that keeps me going here. Training 3 times a week with a group of 15-20 Italians. It's intense but worth the effort. We are travelling to Belgium in 2 weeks to play a team out there. Then in mid December we travel to Turin for the first game of the Italian Championship.
TJP
Instagram
Tumblr
Rome is great to walk around, you have a labyrinth of winding, tiny streets all cramped up in the centre. Enclosed footbridges crossing the street above you, ostentatious sculptures, innocuous entrances leading to hidden, spectacular interiors. Piazza Venezia is more or less the centre of the city. At one end of the square you have the imposing Altare della Patria (Vittorio Emanuele Monument) and at the other Via Del Corso which dissects the city in two with a straight 2 km run all the way to Piazza del Popolo in the northern tip of ancient Rome. The west side of the Corso is where my little flat is, a short walk from the Pantheon, Piazza Navona, Campo di Fiori.Through walking in and out of these winding streets for the past month, this ancient jigsaw is roughly in place while leaving enough room for daily discoveries.
 |
| Altare Della Patria - aka the bus stop for lacrosse |
I mentioned the above to one of my friends here, about surviving/thriving. Maybe I put too much pressure on doing the latter when in many ways survival here is a big step and something that you would take a lot from, even if from your current perspective it seems like you are running just to stand still. She mentioned how being a tortoise and not a hare is what's needed here. Little steps, building a routine, keeping yourself busy with the daily things.
Lacrosse is one of the things that keeps me going here. Training 3 times a week with a group of 15-20 Italians. It's intense but worth the effort. We are travelling to Belgium in 2 weeks to play a team out there. Then in mid December we travel to Turin for the first game of the Italian Championship.
TJP
Tumblr
