Guide to visiting and staying in Rome.

Rome is a place where you can feel somewhat silly and yet very alive at once. You come expecting to elegantly and sophisticatedly walk across history, only to find that ninety-nine percent of tourists are doing precisely the same thing, snapping the same Trevi Fountain shot while trying not to be drench by someone else's tossed coin. It's wonderful, it's crazy, and somehow you find it beautiful.

Rome is like entering a history book turned rebellious as one walks about. The Colosseum looms over you, and for a brief time you see gladiators fighting and emperors nodding approvingly from their balconies. Then the enchantment breaks when a bunch of school kids rushes by laughing at your pointless efforts to capture the ideal Instagram shot. Still, it is humbling to stroll across streets visited by Julius Caesar, Michelangelo, and, sure, tens of thousands of other travelers most likely wearing somewhat worse shoes.

Rome's cuisine warrants a whole paragraph since it is quite difficult not to overindulge. You could begin your day with a small cappuccino and cake, assuring yourself you are simply fitting in with the residents. You're struggling with a plate of carbonara so rich at lunchtime that it could be regarded as a weapon in certain nations. Dinner is always pizza; gelato is, of course, a moral obligation. And somehow, despite everything, you keep telling yourself it's for cultural enrichment, which is accurate, but let's be honest, for the most part it's a justification to eat until you can hardly stand.

Another adventure is public transportation. Taxis seem to function on a hazy system of chaos theory; the metro smells like a combination of espresso and anguish; the buses are congested. You rapidly realize that walking is not only desired but also vital; it gives you the opportunity to discover little plazas, hidden-away fountains, and eateries you missed in any handbook. You understand the irony of finding your own "secret" hideout when thousands of other visitors are squeezed into the closest landmark.

Then there's the artistic work. Rome has it flowing off ceilings and walls and sometimes surprises you with its pure splendor. It's everywhere. Standing under Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling, you can't help but consider the reality that someone painted this while possibly dressed in uncomfortable robes and pondering extensively on religion, politics, and perhaps their lunch. It makes your selfie stick seem both insignificant and important at once.

Rome tourism is a conflicting mix of awe, weariness, luxury, and little humiliation. You arrive for the pasta and the landmarks, but you remain for the way the city causes you to pause—even just to free yourself from the crowd and wonder at the fact that this messy, sun-drenched metropolis has survived for thousands of years. Rome invites you in and then challenges you to love it despite your own preconceptions; most often, you do.