Another Pin In The Map

               The Roman Colosseum. Statue of David. The Sistine Chapel. The Dome of Florence. The Trevi Fountain. We see all of these things in movies, but we don't actually think about what they're like in real life. To quote my favorite movie of all time: "So if I asked you about art, you'd probably give me the skinny on every art book ever written. Michelangelo, you know a lot about him. Life's work, political aspirations, him and the pope, sexual orientations, the whole works, right? But I'll bet you can't tell me what it smells like in the Sistine Chapel. You've never actually stood there and looked up at that beautiful ceiling." (Good Will Hunting). This is a fantastic quote. Though for some reason, I don't think I really understood it until I made this vacation.
              You can study something your entire life. Read books covering every aspect. Look up pictures or videos online giving exact views. But seeing and experiencing are two very different things. We've all seen the Lizzie Maguire Movie right? (Who hasn't?!) You see the Trevi Fountain, Hilary Duff throws her coin in and finds love, blah, blah blah. But when I was walking in Rome, knowing that I was headed towards the great fountain that I had seen before in movies and pictures, I had no idea what was to come. I turned a corner, and there it was, like nothing I had ever seen before. The rushing of the water, enormous crowds trying to get a perfect picture. The size and beauty felt almost unreal.
             To be in the entrance of the Colosseum where gladiators risked their lives against a lion. Thousands of years of history. I had studied the structure to no end through out social studies classes, but to be there was something completely different and indescribable. I feel so incredibly lucky that my parents put such a value upon travel and seeing the world for what it really is instead of just looking up pictures online. I will never forget the brilliant white of David's marble structure. The feel of the walls I held on which I held on for dear life in climbing the bell tower in Florence. The guy peeing outside the Vatican Walls. The smell of the Sistine Chapel. Memories not able to be reproduced by any book or article.