Eternity is not Enough
Only the most romantic city in the world. In August of 2025 I decided to give Rome a chance and visited for two days. My visit came after being in Napoli for a total of six days (originally to be four, but I loved it so much that I extended my stay). Napoli was a place that felt a lot like home, the kind of place that doesn’t cater to outsiders; you won’t find yourself being spoken to in English here, so you either try or you drown. After arriving in Rome and missing this experience, I was ready to write off the Eternal City as another tourist trap.
Fast forward to April of 2026, I made my return, and I made sure to stick to my plans of visiting Rome and giving her the chance she deserves. The itinerary was:
Three days in Palermo
Four days in Napoli
Three days in Roma
I know, not enough time to truly enjoy each city, I will return and slow down later.
I felt similar feelings when arriving in Rome this year. I spent seven days speaking mostly Italian, to suddenly being spoken to English because it was obvious I was a visitor, and the crowds were as busy as they were in August. Many of my issues came from comparison, and I realized I had to slow down and enjoy Rome without outside factors. On top of this, I had a hard time truly taking great pictures in Rome, so this was my challenge: Capture the true Rome.
It all started at the skate park near the Colosseum, a place I knew nothing about and was so excited to discover. So many opportunities here to meet people, get away from the large crowds and capture beautiful compositions. Arianna Pacilio, a photographer living in Rome, was my companion in discovering the city. This was just the beginning and I felt myself peeling away at the outer layers of Rome, and I wanted more of this experience. After being able to find such character in the heart of Rome, I wondered what would be further out from the city center.
This is where I begin to realize how naive I was. How was I able to be so critical of this city when I haven’t even ventured out to where the city truly lives? All my preconceived ideas of Rome were gone, I felt myself giving Rome a full chance again, and I felt as happy as I did when I first visited Napoli.
In just three days, and possibly 90,000 steps later, I felt that I spent a week in Rome. Discovering parks, quaint streets, food, nightlife, people and so much more; I fell in love with Rome. She was so much more than I ever expected her to be. By the end of my trip in Rome, I felt all my regrets setting in, like not giving myself more time to be here to take it all in, there was so much more I wanted to do there.
Three days was not enough, even if I could only have an extra 15 minutes in Rome, I would take it. I’d watch my timer closely, hoping this would slow down time. One more photo, one more pangoccioli, maybe enough time for just one more walk.
