Interview with Heidi Sewell
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Heidi Sewell is hopelessly in love with the Italian language, cuisine and culture. In addition to leading tours throughout Italy, Heidi is Rick's primary research assistant for his Italy guidebooks, and she teaches Italian Travel Skills classes at our Travel Center in Edmonds. In her spare time…Heidi looks for opportunities to rave about Rome!
What do you like best about guiding Rick's Rome tour?
Whether we realize it or not, everyone carries a bit of Rome around with them in our knowledge of the Colosseum, the Forum, gladiators and Caesar. I love revealing to visitors the way that Ancient Roman civilization has so influenced our modern culture and watching tour participants adopt the city as though they were temporary Romans. Rome has so many sights to see, many of which are unknown to the whirlwind tourist who spends on average two days in the city. The 7-day city tour of Rome allows people the leisure to really explore lesser-known but important sights, like Ostia Antica or the Jewish museum, and discover hidden neighborhoods like Trastevere or Testaccio, which offer a true slice of Roman life.
What is your favorite time to visit Rome?
I love Rome in the fall, around October or November, because the air is crisp but the weather is still warm enough to enjoy dining al fresco and strolling around the city's pedestrian squares. Fresh Porcini mushrooms and truffles are dominating the menus and marketplaces and vino nuovo is coming in from the local vineyards. Sharing the seasonal specialties with my groups and teaching them about Roman cuisine is a high point of guiding tours for me. Also in the fall, kids are back in school and tourism drops off a bit, so the city feels more personal.
What are the most challenging and rewarding aspects of guiding Rome tours?
Getting people to embrace public transportation is a great challenge. Rome can be a grueling city in which to sightsee. Avenues and monuments are huge, making distances seem shorter than they really are, but you can really wear yourself out trying to walk everywhere. Most Americans have little or no experience using public transportation, and they can be really intimidated by Rome's network of trams, buses and subways, stories about pickpockets, and the crowds of Romans and tourists trying to get around the city. Once I teach my tour members how to use public transport, the city opens up and people explore Rome's charming neighborhoods and "back door" sights and feel much more confident wandering around on their own. The most rewarding aspect of guiding in Rome is the satisfaction of seeing people connect with such ancient history. Teaching people the way monuments, architecture, history and culture ranging from the Roman Empire, Middle Ages, Counter-Reformation and Fascist era are woven into the modern fabric of the city.
What are your favorite sights in Rome?
The Borghese Gallery with Bernini's amazing Baroque sculptures is an artistic awakening for many people who didn't realize they liked art. Rome's many churches offer some of the most beautiful in situ art, reflecting the politics and society of the time in which it was created. My favorite churches for their art are the church of San Luigi dei Francesi and Santa Maria del Popolo for their works by my favorite artist, Caravaggio.
What else makes Rome the greatest capital city in Europe?
The style of the buildings themselves is a testament to the longevity of the Eternal City. You can stand on a street corner and see architecture ranging from the ancient Empire, Middle Ages, Renaissance, 19th and 20th centuries in one view, often built one style on top of the other. The fact that so much has happened in this place since its founding 2759 tumultuous years ago…the passion of the locals for their hometown, the incredible cuisine, dolce vita attitude of the Romans, the outdoor living room piazze populated with social butterflies enjoying the bubbling fountains and evening passeggiata, everything.