The Bucket Life – Rome

“All roads lead to Rome,” so they say. And this couldn’t be more true or more relevant for Gray Line’s local Rome experts who share their city and their streets with more than 10 million visitors each year.

If you’re thinking about your next adventure or just looking for a mental departure for the day, the second episode of Gray Line’s The Bucket Life looks at what makes a city great and what makes an experience last with “Rome.”

What makes a great city? Is it the music? The art? The energy? The legacy?

Is a great city defined by its people? It’s craftsmanship? Or is a great city one that offers security — a guarantee of sorts — that it will consistently provide all of these things?

The Eternal City of Rome is one of the oldest modern-day civilizations, and the reality that it was built brick by brick over millennia is almost unimaginable. But it can also put us at ease — as most everything has been done before inRome.

Reaching worldwide from Tiber Island, Rome is the original epicenter of Western ways. It’s a history full of systems that touch every aspect of life: architecture, anatomy, philosophy, spirituality … inventive structures that influence our every day.

This city is a walking textbook of beautiful art, delicious foods, notable architecture and rich history. But it’s the people who are the keepers of culture, the guardians and the guides. They mentor artistic apprentices … they inspire flavor through shared kitchens … they build and create and teach and protect, and because of this, visitors sense peace in this pulsing city.

The Gray Line team in Rome have had roots in this great city of millenia. They share the sights, sounds and experiences Rome offers that help us appreciate what’s been discovered and passed down to our generations. And they also provide an opportunity to take inspirations and understanding to the next level with tours that tell the greater stories.

From stone city streets to statues from a previous era, the old is seamlessly bridged to the new. The day connected to night. Uniquely, Rome has as much to offer after dusk as it does when the sun’s up. So satisfying on the surface, yet the city’s many layers reveal even greater perspective — never over-produced, always revealed at the right time.

The rich history of this empire isn’t hard to find, with ancient ruins around every corner; however, aqueducts and arches were perhaps the most famous architectural contributions. The Romans constructed numerous aqueducts in order to bring water from distant sources into cities and towns, supplying water for most public and household uses, with a few are still partly in use today,

But aqueducts and arches aren’t the only systems still in use.

A place known for pilgrimage, The Vatican City is geographically located within Rome, a country within a city. Believed to be the final resting grounds for St. Peter and currently home to the Papacy, Vatican City hosts festive gatherings, Sunday masses and daily tours that showcase both the messages and the Messiah. Art cloaking the walls comes from the hands of history’s best artists. Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael — they all did their part in capturing the goodness and grace important to so many.

Regardless of if we’ve visited this unparalleled city, most of us have a pre-existing notion of Rome. Gladiators and chariots, pizza and wine — they represent times and treasures of this great city, but more importantly, they illustrate how these people have carried their customs and created today’s infrastructures. This is “The Bucket Life.”