Stumbling Blocks of Rome

By Douglas Weissman
 
To Romans, Italy’s capital is a fast-paced metropolis of modern culture supported by millennia of tradition. To tourists, Rome embodies the epitome of European heritage captured in an endless collection of ruins, pizzerias, and fountains. When first arriving in the Eternal City, my wife and I could trace the history with our fingertips while dragging our feet over the medieval dirt pounded between the cobblestones and antique soil supporting the remaining standing columns of the ancient Forum. We quickly realized the easiest way to tell a Roman from a tourist: tourists ...