Rome as Oppressive or Exhilarating

My oppinion of Rome is that I think it is both oppressive and exhilarating. I feel like it is definetly exhilarating because everywhere you look there is some part of history that is so significant. Just like when we went into that museum there was so much art and every piece has a history behind it. I also think that it is exhilarating because this is the city that used to be the center of the world and I felt like I could still feel how powerful it is by just walking around it. I don't see how a travelor could come to this city and not get excited everyday when learning about these things.

In the book the Italians it talks about Italy as the teacher of many arts. Throughout my time here so far I can definetly see how Italy is a teacher, and how a lot of that teaching is done in Rome. The Italians book said how Italians have created a variety of crafts and skills and taught it to the foreigners. I think this adds to Rome being exhilarating because even just by admiring the art I felt that I was being taught new crafts and skills. I never imagined someone being able to create such art work before coming to Rome.

I can also though see how Rome could be oppressive because the atmosphere here is very different then what I've seen before. The streets are very crowded and there is the language barrier that a travelor would deal with everyday. The lifestyle people live over here is very different and I think a travelor would need to have an open mind in order to feel comfortable in Rome. Personally I still don't feel completely safe while in the city. We've heard a lot about how stealing goes on everyday and that has impacted the way that I have felt here. If someone were to have a negative experience here I think it would defintely impact the way they look at all of Rome. I think that in that way it could be oppressive for some travelors.