It could be fair to say that I transferred into the College of Architecture, Art, and Planning last semester just so that I could study in Rome. Having had Italian friends and heard their stories of their motherland throughout my life, I thought it was about time that I saw Italy for myself. The first Italian movie I ever saw was Federico Fellini’s La Dolce Vita in black and white.
Walking around Rome’s centro storico particularly around La Fontana di Trevi , I’m reminded of a few scenes from the film. Of course, Rome isn’t quite as fabulous (at the moment) as it is portrayed in the film- and not many people really walk into the Trevi Fountain late at night these days given that you can be arrested and put into jail for such a crime- but the charming character of the city of La Dolce Vita still remains. Sure Italy has the third largest public debt in the world, but still, it’s not too difficult to fall in love, get lost, and wind up in front of a Bernini in Rome’s centro storico.
A few other things that I noticed my first few days in Rome:
-Don’t feel intimidated if you feel like a car is going to hit you as you cross the street-it won’t, cars (and people) in Rome are used to close proximity
-Italian farmer’s markets are great (a post about this to come)
-Not all gelaterie in Rome will have amazing gelato that will blow your mind away, go to Giolitti and you won’t be disappointed.
-‘Italian food’ doesn’t really exist
-the bread served at a restaurant before you order is included as its own item in the bill
-Signs like this one:
-If you don’t want to look too much of a tourist, you have to walk by the Pantheon like it’s ‘just another one of those ancient buildings that I pass by on my way to do errands’, and admire it secretly with your peripheral vision
Stay tuned for more of my thoughts from Rome!
A presto!
La Dolce Vita Photo Courtesy of ilmuromag.it