This is a photograph from the Spanish Steps in Rome, Italy. According to my research, the 135 step staircase (widest in all of Europe) had been designed by Francesco de Sanctis and Alessandro Specchi, and was built on a 20,000 Scudi budget. I don't know whether 20,000 Scudi will get me an IPAD Air, but hey, I guess 20,000 Scudi was a substantial amount of money way back when. I was with my sister, and my friends, Rita and Kellie (Chinese Americans) on the fateful Saturday when this photo was snapped. We had taken a bus from the Montecasino, had decent fare at an Autogrill, and had crashed at the Hotel Buenos Aires around 2 hours walk from Vatican City (I think). We were out for some "walking in Rome" action, and Kellie and Rita were eager to do some bag hunting (for a relative back home). During my time in Rome, it amazed me how populated some areas could be, and how some others could be so empty, and quiet. It also struck my how many tourists were around on a regular basis. Was the constant stream of tourists a byproduct of effective marketing of Italy as a prime tourist destination? Was it part of a natural charm borne out of being a country so rich in history, so rich in antiquity, and so rich in antiquity set against the rising tides of modernity? Everyone likes a good heavyweight prize fight. Winner take all. New or old- who wins? Who falls? It's a battle that's ironically been going on for generations. We've been happy to watch and marvel at how the big boys box. Even if I spent 3 weeks in Europe last April 2013, and while I was part of a tour which wasn't half bad, I feel like I haven't sniffed the smell of the real Italy, the real Belgium, the real Holland.
In a weird way, it's that very desire to "keep sniffing" that makes things exciting. So long as I find my myself wanting to continue the search for the essence of a culture, the essence of a people, and the soul behind all things material, I know, I know I should keep travelling, and I knowing I should keep "walking". If I could lose a few pounds after all of my traveling, that too would be really great. I think that I'd have better luck making it back to Rome than getting that much thinner in the short term.
Some forms of jouissance are too hard to shake off. Eating, travelling, and in a deeper sense, wandering, wondering, dreaming, living.
MC
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