You might have marveled at the Colosseum, thrown coins into the Trevi Fountain, watched the sun go down behind St. Peter’s Basilica, walked on Ponte Sant’Angelo, walked up the Spanish Steps, looked in awe at the Pantheon, and enjoyed dinner at Piazza Navona … but you’ve not seen Rome until you’ve taken a stroll around Trastevere. Yes, it’s that beautiful!
Walking along the riverbanks of Tiber and then entering the narrow streets of Trastevere brought back so many memories for me … scattered across cities … countries … continents. Memories resurfaced … the walk along the riverbanks of Siene in Paris … wading through the 9 little streets in Amsterdam … hemmed in by the backstreets of Varanasi … and getting lost in the meandering alleys of Kolkata. I lived my entire life in a flash … a time-lapse played backward.
Maybe the Ivy climbers witnessed a hint of smile on the edge of my lips … or was it the “hole in the wall” restaurants … or the cute little cars … or the brightly colored walls?
I guess I’ll never know the answer! But what I do know is that meandering along the backstreets of Trastevere has given my life a special meaning. It has infused my life with a rare kind of beauty. Wherever I go … whatever I see, touch, and smell … is so much richer … so much deeper. There’s a charming glow on sunrises .. there’s a special burn on sunsets … there’s a subtle sweetness in night air. I see it, I sense it, and I feel it … deep down in my heart.
