Six Months in the Enchanting City, Rome: A Brief Travel Memoir

 Six Months in the Enchanting City, Rome: A Brief Travel Memoir

by Can Urla

  ‘’I am on a lonely road and I am traveling, traveling, traveling, traveling’’ (Mitchell 0:21-0:27) started singing the Canadian singer Joni Mitchell, in the opening song of her timeless album Blue. While I listened to her calm voice, I walked through the gate of my plane that would take me to Italy on the 25th of January. A six-month journey was about to begin, and I was curious about what a foreign country would offer me during my stay. I was admitted to the Erasmus program of Yeditepe University in the spring term of 2022. In this essay, in a form of an experimental memoir, I intend to reflect on and illustrate my experiences in Rome as an Erasmus student. I will be dividing the essay into several sections to introduce historical, cultural, and literary aspects of Italy along with my comments. I sincerely hope that my work will be inspiring for those students who plan to apply to any kind of exchange program in the future.

  Upon landing at the Fiumicino Airport of Rome, it was difficult to feel the charm of the city at first since airports are always chaotic spaces, crowded and full of people who are always in a rush to catch their flights. After I stepped on a train to reach my apartment which is located on the outskirts of the city center, I remember how I felt uneasy due to some uncertainties since I did not know how living in Rome would be during my Erasmus exchange. As the train continued the journey at full speed, I also traveled in my mind through my train of thoughts, thinking about the list that I had prepared in advance, places to visit, museums to see, and documents to prepare for my university. As a BA English Literature major, I was able to choose any courses from the related Humanities department. There were two literature departments that offer courses in English at Sapienza University in Rome: BA Classics and MA Anglo-American Literature. Although studying the classical texts of the ancient Greeks and Romans seemed interesting, I was not predominantly interested in studying the literary legacy of antiquity. Instead, I was trying to find a British sense of Rome during my stay, without knowing that I would discover the Britishness of Rome later. Thus, I wanted to choose all of my courses from the department of Anglo-American Literature. However, I had trouble finding suitable courses and locating the classrooms. Also, preparing the required documents was so challenging that I felt as if I was trapped in a Kafkaesque world while filling all the documents. At that point, unfortunately, my home university was not able to offer a solution either. Yet, I did not worry because I saw this process as an experience as well. Eventually I was able to reach out to the Erasmus office even though it was difficult to find its exact location. There was also a service named ‘’Hello Desk’’ which was dedicated to helping the exchange and foreign students. After that I chose my courses and located the classrooms.

A Day in The Streets of Rome

  After solving the issues related to my courses, it felt elevating to wander around the streets of Rome. Every corner of the street consisted of pizza places, bakeries, souvenir shops, cafes, and ice cream shops. Who does not like Italian cuisine? It is delicious! Especially the smell of pizza was very welcoming and the juicy lasagna always looked appetizing. In Rome, most of the well-known restaurants are in a neighborhood called Trastevere, located south of the Vatican and across the Tiber River. In Trastevere, different kinds of restaurants offer various menus from local Italian chefs. It is the right place for those who want to taste the original Italian cuisine. Many of these restaurants are cozy as well as affordable. There are also bars around the neighborhood where I was able to try Italian cocktails such as bitter-sweet limoncello and sparkling Aperol Spritz. My favorite is Chardonnay, even though it is a French-origin white wine. Tasting the Chardonnay is a must since I remember feeling as if I tasted the stars due to its unique taste. 

Trevi Fountain

  While exploring the streets of Rome, I felt no concern because the Italians were so nice to foreigners and even though I did not speak any Italian, they always offered help, for example, about finding my way until I learned the tourist routes by heart. The Italians were especially proud of the tourists’ affection for Italian cuisine and interest in the Roman heritage of architecture and mythology. Rome was a city where I could walk around all day without feeling tired as every corner of it took me through a different cultural heritage and many astonishing churches. For example, reaching the Colosseum from the Trevi Fountain takes only a 20-minute walk. Both are major tourist attractions and amazed me immensely at first sight. Especially the Trevi Fountain attracted me a lot when one of my friends told me about the allegory behind the structure of the fountain. Today people mostly see it as a physical representation of the Roman deities that will grant their wishes related to love if they toss a coin into the fountain. Yet, when it is examined closer it offers a broader allegorical meaning. The Trevi Fountain is a famous baroque fountain that was designed by Nicola Salvi in the 18th century. It presents the Roman deities in an allegorical setting of Christianity. The ancient gods are in the lower part, humans are in the middle, and Christian angels are at the top, giving an allegorical message, that Christianity is above all, both humans and the ancient gods. In addition, it was surprising to discover that there were two literary attractions near the city center: The house of Goethe and the Keats-Shelley House. Both were the houses of German and British Romantic poets and were later turned into museums that attract many tourists. While I was walking around the touristic part of the city, I was immensely amazed to see how antiquity, literature, art, and architecture come together in the eternal city which continuously enchanted me. In addition, the Italian food was very delicious. Enjoying the food and ice cream in the center of the city made the experience even more unforgettable for me.

English Literary Heritage in Italy

  Among all the historical monuments, museums, and sculptures that belonged to the ancient Roman tradition, my personal favorites were not those attractions of antiquity. Instead, my favorite tourist attractions belonged to British literary culture. As an English literature student, I was deeply interested in British culture. So, I was determined to find British traces in Italy. I was introduced to the sublime Italian landscapes and gloomy castles in an elective Gothic Literature course that I took in my second year at Yeditepe University. During the course, I observed that early British Gothic literature writers such as Horace Walpole and Ann Radcliffe are interested in the Italian landscapes and Gothic architecture that they described in their novels. Thus, I was always curious about the Gothic and Romantic aspects of Italy. In Rome, I found such a literary connection to English culture through the courses related to the works of Anglophone literature that I chose during my Erasmus exchange. 

Statue of Byron by Danish sculptor Bertel Thorwaldsen

  Yet, a larger encounter with British literature happened through British Romanticism. I knew that several British Romantic poets, as well as Mary Shelley, lived in Italy at some point in their lives, for their European tour or for major health issues. By the entrance of the literature department of Sapienza University, a charming statute of Lord Byron, who was the most dangerously appealing figure among his fellow Romantics, welcomes the students with his notorious charm, Byron came to Italy in 1822. He wrote many of his poems around Lake Como, near Milan. He met with literary figures such as Goethe, and Carlo Goldoni in Venice. He also visited Lake Nemi which is a small district not far from Rome in the Lazio region. In Lake Nemi, there is even a bar named after Byron. Another British Romantic poet who lived in Italy is John Keats. He was advised by his doctor to move to a warmer climate due to his illness, tuberculosis. Together with his friend, the painter Joseph Severn, he arrived in Naples in 1820. Then, they went to Rome and, lived in a house by the Spanish Steps until the death of the poet. 

Byron Bar in Lake Nemi - Lazio

  Keats had to leave his beloved Fanny Brawne, but continued to write her letters in Italy. He died after a year in the arms of Severn since his sickness worsened during the winter. His house was made into a museum named “Keats Shelley House” in 1909. The house enables tourists to learn about the lives of Keats, Shelley, and Byron in Italy thanks to the exhibits in the museum. The museum contains a great library that includes the works of British and German Romantic writers, Gothic novels, and books by William Godwin as well as some first editions of the works of Keats, Shelley, and Byron. During my visit, probably due to my deep interest in the Romantics, somehow, I was able to feel the greatest comfort provided by the aura of literature. It was as if those ancient books release energy and a sense of coziness to me. Percy B. Shelley moved to Italy with Mary Shelley in 1818 after the publication of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. He had been advised by his doctors to move to warmer climates for his lung disease. Shelley met with Byron in Italy and also visited Keats’s grave in Rome. Sadly, Shelley died in Italy, like Keats, in the Bay of La Spezia due to a boat accident in 1822. He was cremated at the beach of La Spezia. Both Shelley and Keats were buried in a cemetery named “Cimitero Degli Inglesi”’ which in English is referred to as Non-Catholic Cemetery. It was also open to visitors. So, I visited the cemetery several times. The feeling I had when I touched the tombstones of Keats and Shelley was indescribable. It was such a unique opportunity to be able to visit the house where Keats lived until his illness caught up with him. Especially the letter of Joseph Severn upon the death of Keats, which is also exhibited in the museum, made me highly emotional as I sympathized with Severn’s feelings while reading the letter.

  As a coincidence, Rome offered me a great surprise: I saw that in an enormous park, Villa Borghese, they built a replica of the Shakespearean Globe Theatre to stage the play, Richard III. I was highly surprised since I always made a connection with the album “Laurell Hell” and Richard III. I thought the album of Mitski was a tribute to the misfit characters of literature with its references to turning into a villain in order to cope with heartbreak. For me, it was as if Mitski embodies the character of Richard III by assuring her listeners that she will be a villain. Thus, I decided to see the play to fulfill the connection that I had made. The tickets were not very affordable. Yet, thinking that it would be worth the experience I booked my ticket to watch the play. Villa Borghese is the third-largest park in Rome. It includes museums, art galleries, and the statues of Goethe, Pushkin, and Byron. The park was very beautiful, and it enabled me and my friends to spend a great day thanks to its serene green environment and a large pond with ducks by the Temple of Aesculapius. It was so enjoyable to rent bikes from the bike rental stops and to get food from the stands.  Thus, with the discovery of these British literary traces in Rome, I started to feel a much better connection with the eternal city due to my great interest in English literature.

Keats Shelley House - Piazza Spagna

“Rome. 27 February 1821.

My dear Brown,

He is gone–he died with the most perfect ease–he seemed to go to sleep. On the 23rd, at about 4, the approaches of death came on. ‘Severn-I–lift me up–I am dying–I shall die easy–don’t be frightened be firm, and thank God it has come!’ I lifted him up in my arms. The phlegm seemed boiling in his throat, and increased until 11 when he gradually sunk into death–so quiet-that I still thought he slept…….“ (Hanson). 

Works of Keats

Works of Keats

  Apart from these Romantic poets, there were also strong connections with some Victorian writers and Italy. The Irish poet Oscar Wilde, for example, from the late Victorian era, during his tour of various cities in Italy, also visited the grave of Keats in Rome in 1877, and wrote his poem “The Grave of Keats” as an elegy to the poet. He considered the grave of Keats as the holiest place in the city.

“No cypress shades his grave, no funeral yew,

But gentle violets weeping with the dew

Weave on his bones an ever-blossoming chain.

O proudest heart that broke for misery!

O sweetest lips since those of Mitylene!

O poet-painter of our English Land!

Thy name was writ in water——it shall stand” (Wilde 6-12).

  Charles Dickens also spent some time in Italy. He traveled to several Italian cities and recorded his travels in Pictures from Italy which was published in 1846. He was able to feel the echoes of the glorious antiquity of Italy: “And let us not remember Italy the less regardfully, because, in every fragment of her fallen Temples, and every stone of her deserted palaces and prisons, she helps to inculcate the lesson that the wheel of Time is rolling for an end and that the world is, in all great essentials, better, gentler, more forbearing, and more hopeful, as it rolls!’’ (Dickens 333). Another Victorian writer who spent time in Italy was Elizabeth Barrett Browning who lived in Pisa, then in Florence, the majestic city of the Renaissance, together with her husband, the poet Robert Browning, and their dog Flush. They lived in Casa Guidi in Florence. They moved to Italy because it was a place that offered them a more liberated life. Her famous long poem Aurora Leigh celebrates the life of an Italian-English woman writer. She celebrated Italian national independence and identity in Casa Guidi Windows and Poems Before Congress.

  I continued to pursue my interest in British culture in Italy. In the last month of my exchange, I was able to find another trace of British culture in Italy: I was luckily able to see the portrait of Henry VIII. by Hans Holbein which is exhibited in the Barberini Gallery of Rome. It is an art gallery in the Palace of Barberini. The museum was very expensive, and on the free-visit days, it was very difficult to make a reservation. Yet, we were able to book in my last month before I returned to Turkey. Holbein’s portrait of the notorious Tudor king is one of the most well-known paintings of Henry VIII.

Hans Holbein, Ritratto di Enrico VIII - Palazzo Barberini

  The final British trace of Rome I discovered during my stay is related to the English Renaissance and the celebration of the rise of the Tudor dynasty by the play Richard III. During my stay, one of my favorite artists, Mitski who is a Japanese-American musician who produces alternative folk music, released her album Laurell Hell. She explained the album as a "soundtrack for transformation, a map to the place where vulnerability and resilience, sorrow and delight, error and transcendence can all sit within our humanity, can all be seen as worthy of acknowledgment, and ultimately, love" (Caraan).  From the album, the song “The Only Heartbreaker” always reminded me of the play Richard III. and of Machiavellian heroes since Mitski loosely references similar themes as Richard III. and The Prince. As a result of her heartbreak, she determines to be a villain by scheming events to take revenge:

“So, I'll be the loser in this game

I'll be the bad guy in the play

I'll be the water main that's burst and flooding

You'll be by the window, only watchin'” (Mitski 1:03-1:26)

  In these lines, Mitski acknowledges to her audience that she has decided to be a villain after failing in her romantic relationship once again, which reminded me of the lines of Shakespeare’s play Richard III. As Mitski does, Richard also informs the audience that he will be a villain since he is unattractive and cannot have a lover:

“And therefore, since I cannot prove a lover,

To entertain these fair well-spoken days,

I am determined to prove a villain” (Shakespeare 1.1.3 - 10).

               

        

Villa Borghese - Globe Theatre

  As a coincidence, Rome offered me a great surprise: I saw that in an enormous park, Villa Borghese, they built a replica of the Shakespearean Globe Theatre to stage the play, Richard III. I was highly surprised since I always made a connection with the album “Laurell Hell” and Richard III. I thought the album of Mitski was a tribute to the misfit characters of literature with its references to turning into a villain in order to cope with heartbreak. For me, it was as if Mitski embodies the character of Richard III by assuring her listeners that she will be a villain. Thus, I decided to see the play to fulfill the connection that I had made.

  The tickets were not very affordable. Yet, thinking that it would be worth the experience I booked my ticket to watch the play. Villa Borghese is the third-largest park in Rome. It includes museums, art galleries, and the statues of Goethe, Pushkin, and Byron. The park was very beautiful, and it enabled me and my friends to spend a great day thanks to its serene green environment and a large pond with ducks by the Temple of Aesculapius. It was so enjoyable to rent bikes from the bike rental stops and to get food from the stands.  Thus, with the discovery of these British literary traces in Rome, I started to feel a much better connection with the eternal city due to my great interest in English literature.

            

Tropea, Calabria

Santuario di Santa Maria dell Isola

     

The Wide, Wide Sea

  In this section of my memoir, I will mention the sea coast of Italy and my travels during the holidays toward and at the end of my term. I was able to travel to other regions and cities of Italy during the Easter break in late April and after my term finished in late July. On the 28th of April, I went to the Calabria region to a tiny peninsula named Tropea with my friends. It was an adorable and serene sea town. As a charming little peninsula with its caves, endless beach, and its neighbor volcano Stromboli, the town was a combination of serenity and the vast blue sea that whispers all terrible events that took place in the past. I read the history of it on a notice board by the cliff which was a viewpoint for tourists. Tropea had to face Norman invasions and later attacks from Arabic and Turkish pirates who held the territory under their rule for a long time. After the Tropeans defeated the pirates in the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, they started to celebrate their victory, annually, every third of May with parades, fireworks, games, and a great bonfire. At the end of the festival, they blow up a giant silhouette of a man with a camel made of reeds, using fireworks, which symbolizes the defeat of the Arabic enemy. The city center is reached by stairs since Tropea town is located above the coast. Upon reaching the center from the observation terrace we appreciated the beautiful view of the endless beach, the church “Santuario di Santa Maria dell Isola” and the volcano Stromboli where the old Tropea town was once located. The city center was busy during the day and night offering various delicious food prepared with Tropea’s red onion. Tropea felt like home by the serene atmosphere of the small town combined with the enchanting view of the sea as well as the church on the peak. I never wanted to go back to Rome after the visit.

Santuario di Santa Maria dell'Isola di Tropea (The Church) -Tropea, Calabria Region, Italy

Farewell  

  Rome is referred to as the eternal city, as I also mentioned a number of times in my memoir. The ancient Romans believed that no matter what happens to the world, or that no matter how many kingdoms rise and fall, Rome will go on living forever, both in the memories of people and physically. It is such a beautiful and magical city.

  I named this section of my essay “Farewell” because it is about my final observation in Rome and refers to our “Farewell Parties”. I lived in a six-room apartment where I met with many people from all over the world who introduced me to their culture as I introduced them to mine. They became like family members to me who made my stay in Rome more enjoyable. In the passage of six months, tenants changed from time to time. Some stayed for four months while some stayed for three months. Whenever someone was leaving for good, we organized a dinner that we attended as a group of housemates and celebrated the moments that we had spent together. Since we would not be able to see each other again and also not be able to share the same intimacy that we shared in Rome, we named those parties “Farewell Parties”. It was as if we wanted to relive those beautiful moments over and over again but it was not possible due to the great distances. So, to overcome such an ambiguous feeling of sadness and to celebrate our moments, we gave the person who was leaving little objects such as marbles, key chains, notes, postcards, and acrostics written on paper as a token that will revive the beautiful memories that we had in Rome. I never understood the effect of the farewell dinner on the person who is leaving until my farewell party eventually arrived. It was very difficult to say goodbye. It was not easy at all to leave the city that I embraced as a temporary home. 

  I felt a deeper connection with it since I created meanings through the British traces that I explored during my stay. Even though the antiquity of Rome with its historical, cultural, and literary features was very appealing and interesting, I was not predominantly interested in antiquity. Of course, when I was a kid, especially during my middle-school years, I was highly interested in ancient Greek and Roman mythology as well as its legacy. Such an interest was sparked when I visited the ancient city Ephesus with my family as a child and upon reading a mythological fiction book series named Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan when I was eleven years old. However, upon staying six months in Rome, I was committed to tracing the British literary influence there, which I found through Tudor England as well as British Romantic and Victorian writers.

  Therefore, Italy has offered me a lot that I am grateful for. I was able to dive into the adventures of English writers as I keenly traced their experiences. In addition, I was grateful for my experience in Italy with kind people, adorable churches, serene parks, breathtaking works of art, great literature, difficult courses as well as the most delicious food. So, I will remember the beautiful moments in Rome by celebrating its memory whenever I miss the eternal city. 

Chiesa di Sant' Ignazio di Loyola, Rome

 

Sources Cited

Caraan, Sophie. Hypebeast. November 10, 2021. https://hypebeast.com/2021/11/mitski-laurel-hell-new-album-announcement-the-only-heartbreaker-single-music-video. Accessed 2 October 2022

Dickens, Charles. American Notes for General Circulation and Pictures From Italy. Transcribed from Champman and Hall Ltd. Gutenberg eBook. February 17, 2013

Hanson, Marilee. "The Final Months: John Keats on his deathbed". February 22, 2015. https://englishhistory.net/keats/john-keats-on-his-deathbed-poem/  Accessed 2 October 2022

 

Mitchell, Joni. ‘’All I Want’’. Blue, Reprise Records, 1971. YouTube, 9 June 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6NZ_2TuLf8. 

Mitski. ‘’The Only Heartbreaker’’. Laurel Hell. Dead Oceans Music. February 4, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmXFF_whkVk

Shakespeare, William. Richard III. ‘The Arden Shakespeare’. Edited by James R. Siemon, Bloomsbury.2009

Wilde, Oscar. ‘’The Grave of Keats’’. 1881. Rome.