Contrasting Colors

Having been in Rome for a few days, I realize that a week is not nearly long enough to take in this amazing city. While I have some time to breathe, I begin to reflect on what I have experienced thus far. The overarching reality that I have found is that Rome is a world of contrast.
I've seen sights older than I can comprehend while standing in a bus, checking my phone for the time.
I've seen the religious gawking in front of holy artifacts, and the non-religious walking by.
I've seen historical, classical, unforgettable art, and I've seen graffiti, everywhere.
There is no end to the contrasting images and sensations of Rome. In one moment, I enter the vastness of St. Peter's Basilica, the next, I am squished into a metro car like a sardine in a can. I went from the Scavi and underground necropolis where St. Peter is buried, to the top of the Cupola which rises high above Rome, and the same spot in which I had just seen the first pope's ancient bones.
There has been nothing but intense contradiction throughout my journey until an evening in which everything seemed to be level, calm, and beautiful.
When I first saw the Trevi fountain, my mind cleared and I found myself able to simply take in the beauty of the space in front of me. I was no longer lingering on the ideas of the beggars in front of the wealth of the Vatican, or the deeply rooted divisions between the Jewish Quarter, and the Roman streets. In the Trevi, the scene of the fountain morphs into the wall, or perhaps it is the other way around. The waters and lights come together into the most perfect teal and gold colors. One coin, may buy you the fate of a return trip to Rome, three may land you a Roman spouse. Suddenly, things aren't divided by language or religion, when you stop and rest by the fountain. The contrast is gone and people are together as equals, as hopeless romantics, tired tourists, but most of all dreamers hoping for a wish to come true.