Guest Post by: Bridget Staroscik O’Reilly
There is a very beautiful and well known church in the Trastevere neighborhood of Rome called Basilica of Our Lady in Trastevere or Basilica di Santa Maria in Trastevere. At least I hear it’s very beautiful; see I’ve never been there. I wanted to go there. I even planned to go there. In fact I set out from my hostel with every intention of visiting Santa Maria di Trastevere it just didn’t turn out that way.
The night before my last day in Rome, I got into a discussion with John, a fellow traveler who was living at my hostel while working for a well known travel guide. John had raved about Santa Maria. According to him it was the most amazing place in the entire city and leaving Rome without seeing Santa Maria would be a vacation crime on par with never having visited Rome at all. So on my last full day in Rome, not wanting to invite bad travel karma, I set out to see this sight above all sights.
Three hours later I was still looking. I had asked directions of no less than seven people. All of whom were very nice and none of whom spoke English. In all fairness to them I’m pretty sure I got girare a sinistra (turn left) confused with girare a destra (turn right). Needless to say I never got to Santa Maria di Trastevere. I did however find many other amazing things, that were well worth my time.
One turn led me to a cute little tratorria with outside seatting where I had a delious snack and did some great people watching. Another girare a sinistra took me up a grassy path that was calm and quiet and led up hilll. At the top I had the chance to rest and think over my time in Rome.
I even found a church. This one was called Santa Cecilia in Trastevere, dedicated to St Cecilia, who was 2nd century Roman martyr and is a patron saint of musicians. I will admit, that at the time I did think I had actually found Santa Maria, but even once I realized my mistake, I didn’t care. See, thousands of visitors each year go to Santa Maria in Trastevere, but I bet only a small number of people get the chance to see Santa Cecila in Trastevere. More people should though because it is a beautiful church.
That’s not to say that Santa Maria isn’t worth seeing or that I will never visit it. In fact I hope to find it on my next trip to Rome. The point is that I didn’t let the destination, or my inability to find it, get in the way of the journey. When you’re traveling it is the traveling that matters. Not to go all Zen on you or anything, but sometimes when we allow ourselves to become consumed with what we’re supposed to see or where we’re supposed to go, we completely lose touch with the joy of the journey.
There are places you must see in Rome and one should definitely make time to the Piazza Navona or the Coliseum, but that said, following an agenda that doesn’t allow for surprises takes away from what you can find if you let yourself just go with what life throws at you. Even if that means you girare a sinistra when you were supposed to girare a destra.
For more information on Rome or other destinations through out Italy check out Beachcomber Pete Travel Adventures.
Other articles by
Guest Post by: Bridget Staroscik O’Reilly
Rome Italy- The Never Ending Allure of the Eternal City
Step Down into Rome’s Past at Basilica di San Clemente
