Series 1: Rome, Italy 🇮🇹

Boldness clothes champions:-) Lens of risks.

This was my very first trip outside Deutschland. I had previously developed a burning desire to step my feet on Rome. I had four reasons:

°Its association with the Romans I read in the scriptures. 

°It's the capital of Italy and could summarize the country in a nutshell. 

°I just wanted to get to another country outside Kenya and Germany even for a second. 

°My power woman, Jackie Scully, M.Ed was to be nearby on a meeting and we could meet after being virtual friends on LinkedIn for several months.

I had never booked a flight for myself for the last 24 years😂. I feared it wouldn't work out or I could be coned. But this time, I didn't have a choice. I had to cast my net of fears into the ocean. Risking is bold. 

After booking my flight and receiving the iternary details on my email, I was taken aback for a moment. I used a local airport that is so many kilometers away in a rural place for local flights. This was the cheapest.

It gives me joy to have known where it is at least. This happened on a day curiosity sent me to see a suspension bridge near the airport( I didn't know then). Unfortunately, we missed the stop for the bridge and landed at the final destination -- the bus station of the airport 😂. Of course my friends were mad at me because I took them there and I lost them. I promised myself never to risk and lead a team I do not know so well anywhere. But see, it helped me.

The first shock was the bus ticket to the airport that was double the price I expected because it's outside the district I live in. For a student, it was alot but I chose the struggle. I was ready to take that in. It was at night, I was more curious to get to the airport, and confirm the truth of the ticket I had when I see myself on the skies😃.

I laughed at myself while alighting and walking towards the airport. Normally, confirmations and security checks here and there. Uh! It was so real and true! I put my headphones on as I stared at my fellow passengers' different mannerisms of waiting. Some looked like it was their first time like me. I cannot speake Italian but I know I can communicate. I quickly found a greeting phrase "ciao" and my Italian name "Giuditta" which still holds so strongly until now.

The flight took off around 9pm in the night, to arrive before midnight. If I had a way of tightly hugging myself, I would do that countless times. I was so grateful to God and proud of myself for that little step. 

Next worry was how to get to my hotel from the airport at night. I had for so many times tried searching transport there, but the more I did it, the more I got confused and I decided to leave it.  

We landed and I still made efforts to see how I can get to the hotel and sleep for sometime. Unfortunately, the only means of transport at midnight was taxis whose ticket was more than my round trip flight ticket😂. Of course I tried finding public service vehicles but I missed the exact station of the two that were remaining. I lost it. 

As an hard core girl, I went back to the airport, sat down and slept on the seats like many connecting travellers were doing. It was a beautiful night:). 

I woke up to set out with one of the first trains, at least to sleep before my half day starts. I was encouraged to meet other confused people at the train station. We booked tickets, this time, feeling like a pro. One was purely speaking French, I wish it was now when I know little of the language. But we communicated. 

To our surprise, asking some people there on the right train because they had almost similar names was not helpful. My instincts by now could sense some odd thing. Damn! We boarded the wrong train and had to pay more than double the 2nd class train. I had no business in a first class train. The goal was to arrive and sleep. 

At the hotel, around 7am, the only thing I wanted was to lie down and strangely flash back, smile and try crying because it had been a long journey. Risks remain risks. But I made it. A reason I adore lone travels especially when I am not sure or with people who hardly take in new trials. 

Slept and woke up for the new experience. Hello Rome! A bit cold but dressed up for winter anyway. Excited to send my eyes, ears and brain on a tour. It was magnificent. 

My walk to the Colosseum was life changing. The Largest and long standing amphitheater!! Over 19 centuries of existence! I still cannot get enough of the secrets of the builders and the carriers of the dream. Deep down, that's the kind of legacy my heart bears. 

The Vatican city is one of those places I have seen the power of spiritualility. Aside from the pictures, I never thought it would have so many people though on a Sunday, it is expected. For the first time, for me it did not matter to do much. I just wanted to get there for primary experience. If there are discoveries an human being should aspire to make, it is only wiser to explore the spiritual self.

The size of these grounds still leave me in awe. Longing for the day my destiny goal will come to pass. It feels really good to have been there, smelt the fragrance of newness and connection, while at the same time enjoyed the huge masses of curious people.

The most mind blowing part of this was meeting my power woman Jackie Scully. The long repeated hugs spoke volumes of how amazing she is. Have you ever felt like you have been the first born of the world and then boom!, someone comes and takes that place? That was me carrying a whole lot of dependent young and old on my back. Then I found an elder sister in Jackie. I accept my limits of creativity but honestly, connecting with her was one of the best things that happened to me in my life time by then.

I am sure by now, someone is about to ask how I found the food in Rome. My biggest challenge as a global citizen is food. I was in Rome but in matters food, I could not live like the Romans. I always want to try to know the taste but not eat to satisfaction, something that I collide with people on. I have always enjoyed Italian pizzas and donners in Bonn, Germany when with other people so that when I cannot take it, someone does. So here, I am in Rome but the things I see in the menus were not those I would pay for and enjoy. Jackie made sure I tried one that she opted to take. Eh! When I grow up, I will think about sea food. As of now, thanks. I enjoyed it when she was taking though:).

Getting to catch up from where we had stopped online was the best part of this journey. Listening to my now big Sis speak and I realize I have virtually not been alone in this planet although I always felt so. The realities of her story and current journey was so encouraging. In the process, I wished I had some good space to cry out loud and release the weight I had previously felt and now was being lifted. The little girl in me felt supported.

One thing life has never taught me is how to say "goodbye" to the dear people in my life. Where do I start? Why is time like that? Always denying me the best moments as if making them too short is not an enough punishment. I always be happy until I have to wish people farewell even if it is temporary. The chit chats at the Spanish steps in Rome made my day and left me in a mix of joy and a wave of bad feeling of the setting time. But it is well. I am excited to see her again soon.

Sovenirs! The memory keeper in me never forgets. One, I can take pictures as a job. Hahaha! Two, anything that sends me back to a place I have been in, is worth keeping. My journeys across the world had just began. I had to find marks of Italy for my archives.

Do you like the blend of nature and human creativity? Just pop in the city of Rome in one of the evenings towards sunsets and scoop your share of joy. First, the streets are extremely cute, with magnificent buildings that given a chance, I would ask for references of the architects and engineers. Second, people are busy minding their own business. I bid the city farewell just immediately I had started having fun!

Highlights:

°There are extremely beautiful places in this planet.

°There are angelically amazing people in this same soil we live in. Always ready to support you and make you feel valued. Be intentionally nice and curious.

°Concentrate on creating your legacy. You never know who it heals across time and space.

°Just as beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder, happiness is all over, you have to attract it.

°Take risks. Eve if you fall, you will rise in experience. It is worth it.

See you in the next one:).

Have a great week!

©Girl of the African Soil in Europe