Rome came after my month-long study abroad program, about two weeks before I headed back home to the states. Along with my roommate, Amy, Rome was the first place to where she and I traveled and didn’t know the native language. The first word to describe Rome, then, is frustration. This was mainly our fault, as we should have done some research on both the city and language before we went. (“How do you even say goodbye? Is it ciao?”) We quickly found that we didn’t even know how to pronounce things, making it difficult to ask strangers even the basics like our hostel’s street name. At least so many Romans (and Europeans in general) are used to English-speaking tourists. Besides the language barrier, we experienced a major heat wave the two full days we were there. The sun makes you tired and sluggish — pair that with public transportation and plenty of walking and you have a very, very worn out me. Speaking of public transportation, riding the city bus is like being voluntold to play a game of sardines in the heat. The rules are simple: there will be no air conditioning, you must get rid of any space between you and the people around you, and you will not be guaranteed something to hold to. Simple enough, right?
This time around I was lucky enough to get a seat.
Many of Rome’s streets are still cobblestone instead of paved. This means that as the bus rolls along down the road you can feel every cell of fat in your cheeks jiggling up and down. Suddenly you are very aware of how much fat you have in your cheeks. Lane lines and any other types of markings on the roads are also limited. This means that taxi drivers weave in and out of surrounding cars, cut across from one side of the road to another in one quick swerve, and sometimes yell “Look, no hands!” as they throw their hands up in the air while going around a fountain roundabout, throwing you and your friend around in the backseat, all because you had conflicting opinions on who were the more crazier drivers: Californians or Italians. Let’s just say that each thought the foreigner was the crazier one.
But let’s be real, the ultimate reason I wanted to go to Rome was because of the food. “Pizza, pasta, wine, ice cream? Sounds like my kinda place.” That is a real quote. By me. I really said that. And although my mom chided me about caring more about the food than the sights, she thoroughly enjoyed my pictures of pasta and gelato more than any of the ones I took at the Vatican.
This was our first meal in Rome. We traveled far and wide (aka played sardines on the bus for 30 minutes) to come to this specific restaurant that a friend we made at the airport recommended to us. A simple, classic spaghetti, but it was so good. It could honestly be the best spaghetti I have ever had. The sauce was not overwhelming at all, and noodles were slightly undercooked which I believe is called al dente. The portion was surprisingly more than I thought and left me both full and happy. Also, how could we skip the wine? We’re in Italy for crying out loud. 25ml of wine was about 4 euros. Very decent. Taste was more than decent. Or maybe our wine palates are just amateur, which is not a wrong thought.
After this meal we tried our hand at gelato down the street.
This place had a ton of gluten free, vegan, and organic options, which reminded us of our good friend Katie. Wish you could’ve been there, Katie!!
Later on in the city, we met up with two of our other friends from the program, plus added a new friend that I met at my hostel to our group. Here we are crawling through bars:
By the way, one thing you will notice in my group pictures is that if the group is diverse, they are most likely American. Amy and I really spiced things up in our program, and here our new friend Jay was an extra nice touch, except Jay is from Manchester! We talked about cookies versus biscuits and chips versus crisps. To each their own.
During the entire time I was in Spain I didn’t encounter a single mosquito, even though our professor warned us about them and bugs in general. I expected the worst but ended up not even thinking about them. Unfortunately the Italian mosquitos were not having any of that and gave me three bites within maybe 12 hours. Those things are silent and might as well be invisible. My ears are usually extremely fine tuned to hearing the high pitched tone that signals death of a mosquito, but I never heard these babies coming. The bites soon became hot spots the size of golf balls.
Lovely…
I unfortunately didn’t have time to go inside the Colosseum but I did go to Vatican City, which will be another post. Did you know it’s considered a separate country?? I had no clue until the day I visited.
All in all, Rome actually didn’t leave the best impression on me. I think it was part heat, part locals and service representatives who were not very courteous, part confusing public transportation (and not just sardines), part I was tired of people in general and feeling more ready to go back home. Here’s something I learned from my time here and that I recommend for you and me both: Rome is so hot during the day that it might be smarter to explore the city at night. Many, if not all, of the buildings and monuments are well-lit, so you still get to see everything but with a completely different vibe. There are so many things to see, both big and small, and it doesn’t have to be anything official. Simply walk the streets, the neighborhoods, enjoy being in the city. Plus, there’ll be less people than during the day!
Still getting used to wordpress. Ciao.
P.S. As I mentioned before Rome was towards the end of my trip. By then I also got tired of taking pictures of everything…
FLIRTING IN SPAIN 