Walking the streets of Rome, there is beauty, passion and love to be found everywhere. Strolling through Borghese gardens, children laugh and run, kicking the ubiquitous soccer ball or rushing crazily by on bikes (similar to the notorious Italian drivers!). Their enthusiasm for life is infectious.

Stendhal syndrome, aka Florence syndrome, is “a psychosomatic disorder that causes rapid heartbeat, dizziness, fainting, confusion and even hallucinations when an individual is exposed to art, usually when the art is particularly beautiful or a large amount of art in a single place.” * The illness was named after French author, Stendhal who described his experience with the phenomenon after visiting Florence.

A friend of mine mentioned this syndrome in relation to just thinking about art in Rome. I heartily agree that one can easily imagine this happening. Standing in front of two Bernini sculptures in the Borhese Galleria, I experienced a kind of awe-inspired swooning.

This sculpture of Apollo and Daphne is so evocative, almost surreal, to see the lift of Apollo’s foot, the leaves above Daphne’s hands, her toes turning to roots. And then, of course, the Rape of Perserpina – the impression of strong hands on yielding flesh, like nothing I’d ever seen.  How does one do that to marble? The David, which I could stare at for hours, didn’t evoke the same emotion in me as this.

The other thing I’ve loved while walking around this city in the spring are the flowers, especially, the heady aroma of the orange trees in blossom. It is positively intoxicating! The planters are starting to be filled with flowers that won’t bloom back home for a month or so.  I’m so enjoying the fact that palm trees, orange trees and other tropicals grow in a city like Rome!

And lastly, the simplicity of the old ways stay present in an old city. This bicycle, locked to a post, was hand painted white, amongst very expensive shops, a contrast in elegance. While so many Vespa’s roam the city streets, seeing this sweet white bicycle brought back memories of bike riding. I had forgotten how much I miss riding a bike.

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