More Notes on Rome

Song

You know those movies or books that are basically just a collection of short stories or vignettes, loosely united by a common theme? That's this post. Imagine me as Tarantino minus the cartoonish violence.

Rush Hour- Growing up in Los Angeles, I'm no stranger to traffic, but Rome's rush hour is pretty insane. I normally walk to class instead of take the tram because it's cheaper and the exercise justifies the plate of carbonara I'm most likely going to shove down my throat during lunch, but I've had the (dis)pleasure of being a part of Rome's rush hour a couple times. I live in Trastevere, which is a neighborhood West and across the river from the center of town. In the morning, every street on my route to class, in the center of town, is gridlocked. Cars try to squeeze through any way they can on the narrow streets, creating lots of honking and near misses.

The train on a day I walked to class.

         "Wow, that sounds bad, Noah," you're probably saying, "but you should take the train and you'll be fine, right?" Wrong. One time, I was going to take the train to class with a few classmates. The train showed up and it was so full that it was physically impossible for me to get on, even when everybody squished in as far in as they could. There was nothing I could do. I'm not small and neither is my backpack, so as the train doors closed and departed with my classmates inside, I was left at the station. It felt like one of those old movies when someone says goodbye to somebody leaving on the train, except it was more of an, "oh crap. I guess I'm walking" reaction instead of a teary, heartbreak-filled goodbye.
           However, this only seems to be a problem outside of the downtown touristy area. Once I got to the center of town (this was about 9 AM), the streets were surprisingly empty. I guess the tourist area doesn't get busy until later in the day.

Cappuccinos are the best. Never let anyone tell
you otherwise.

Coffee- Coffee culture is everywhere and I love it. Every restaurant or snack bar has coffee, every street vendor sells espresso makers, and I've even seen a few coffee vending machines. This all means that I haven't had a bad cup since I've been here (I'm not doing that cup I had on the plane the decency of calling it "coffee"). Cappuccinos have become my drink of choice. For those of you who don't know, it's a shot of espresso with warm, foamy milk (and sometimes cocoa powder) on top. It's simple, but delicious. It's cheap as hell too. The most I've paid for coffee here is €1.5, which, even with the exchange rate, is still cheaper than any halfway decent cup of coffee I could get in the US. Granted, the portions are smaller since coffee and espresso mean the same thing here, but it doesn't matter because it's so good and these little shots of espresso pack a punch in terms of caffeine. One shot of espresso does me just as well as a 16 oz drip coffee. Unfortunately for me, an avid iced coffee drinker, it's a lot harder to find cold coffee. It exists and is called either a freddo (basically sweet cold brew espresso) or a shakerato (made by shaking ice, sugar, and hot espresso together in a cocktail shaker), but they're usually a little more expensive and harder to find.

Have a generic crowd shot for lack of anything else relevant

Clothing- People seem put a lot more effort into fashion here than they do in America. The Romans dress well and seem make an effort to look nice and put together outfits. As someone who puts next to no effort into fashion as it is, I feel a bit underdressed. This is especially true when I wear shorts. Wearing shorts is a great way to immediately be identified as a tourist. The only people I've seen wearing shorts, even in warmer weather, are foreigners. The only Italians who don't have their legs covered are women wearing skirts and children. Ever since I realized this, I've tried to wear long pants when I can and when it isn't too hot, but since the rest of my wardrobe consists of t-shirts and tennis shoes, I still look like an underdressed foreigner. Part of me wants to try to dress the part of a European a little more, but the other part of me knows I don't have money to burn (I'd rather spend it on food) or an adequate knowledge of fashion to make it happen.

Sandwich with chicken, pork, lamb, and chicory. Oh god yes

The Standard of Food: One of the things I've noticed is that in Italy, the standard of food seems to be much higher than in America. There are very few chains, meaning every other restaurant is locally owned. This makes me happy. There also seems to be an emphasis on fresh ingredients and local products. It's like this place was made for a food lover/hipster like me. Both of these things make a huge difference in the quality of food (free cooking tip while I'm at it: Fresh ingredients absolutely matter). Even the more average meals I've had here are as good as the above average ones in America. Though I still try to go to the highest-rated places, there's much less of a risk at ending up getting a subpar meal than if you wander into any restaurant in the US. I'm not going to lie, the food is probably my favorite thing about Rome.

The Communist Party door I mentioned. I love the fact that it's
red. It's so cool, it's Com-rad. I'll see myself out.

The Presence of Communism- In America, thanks to Mr. McCarthy and others, "communist" and "socialist" have (unjustly) become dirty words few are willing to publicly associate with. However, the only Red Scare in Italian history was called "fascism," and we all know how well that went over. Therefore, Communism doesn't have the stigma it does in America, so it's still alive and kicking. It's pretty common to see the sickle and hammer graffitied on walls when you're out walking, and I've also seen some campaign posters for Communist politicians. On my way to class, I also pass by an office for the Communist Party, sitting there amongst the gelato shops and a gift stores on a big street. It's something that shouldn't surprise me but does. Communism is such a taboo thing in American politics that I've been led to believe it's a dead philosophy nobody but extremists believe in any more. That may be true in the US, but definitely not in Italy.

Taken in downtown Naples, on one of the major streets. 

Crosswalks- Pedestrian signals are completely arbitrary. Crossing the street is all about being opportunistic. There are pedestrian signals (which look like stoplights, but with a pedestrian silhouette), but following them might actually be more dangerous than just jaywalking. Often times, the light will be red but no traffic is coming, so it's perfectly safe to go. Other times, the signal is green, so you step out in the street and almost get run over by a Porsche, a taxi, and 3 motor scooters, who all honk at you to get out of their way. For big roads, the signals do help, but in general, it's best to disregard the signal and cross when others cross or when there's no traffic coming. Roman drivers also think they own the road and won't hesitate to honk at you or speed past you when you're a foot or two away. I never want to drive here. I feel like I'd get in a crash within a week, and I consider myself a pretty good driver.

I take classes in this building.

Classes- Oh yeah, those. That's right, Noah's actually doing studying in Europe and not just taking a 3 month vacation. Kinda forgot, right? I'm taking one about 20th century Italian history through film and one about Early Modern Europe. They're alright, though it's hard when they have to cram a quarter's worth of work into 5 weeks. If you thought the quarter system was fast-paced, try this on for size. Because of this tight schedule, the classes are 3 hours long. I don't care how interesting the class is--that's brutal. Oh, and I'm procrastinating on them by writing this post. Whoops.

First Impressions of Rome

Setting the mood...

I can't believe this is only my 4th day in Italy. I've done so much it's felt like I've been here for at least a week, if not longer. Here's my first impressions and notes from my first few days in Rome:

Roman parking is creative, to say the least

-Romans can and will park anywhere: Romans are hilariously opportunistic behind the wheel. Parking turns into a game of trying to find a space wherever possible. This results in people parking right around the corner of an intersection, parking a car in the opposite direction of another on the same side of the street, or parking mere inches away from one another. I've also seen a line of cars parked in the center divide between lanes on a street. Someone I was with pointed out that a good portion of the cars have dents from being hit. 

-The stereotype of everyone riding motor scooters is accurate: They are all over the place. It's no joke.

-The size of all the buildings and monuments is ridiculous: This isn't just the churches (which you can read about here) or the Colosseum, but even the modern government buildings are huge. Texas, in its pride in being big, has nothing compared to Rome. I'm convinced the Romans don't construct anything small. Except...

-Everything is very compact: It's a paradox of Rome that the buildings are massive, but everything in and around them is small. Romans don't seem too concerned about space. The streets are all narrow. The widest I've seen had, I think, two lanes in either direction. The cars are also tiny (lots of Fiats and Smart Cars), and a lot of the businesses are holes in the wall. The city, aside from the main streets, is a network of small alleys instead of proper streets, which makes navigating way more difficult than a lot of other places I've been. There are also instances where you'll be walking down a small alley and you'll hear a horn honk and you turn around and there's a taxi or a truck right behind you that's trying to get through, so all the pedestrians have to move to the side and it rolls through with a couple inches to spare. This has happened several times, so I can only assume it's a common experience

Gelato is amazing

-The city is cheap if you don't eat at the Tourist traps: This is the biggest and most pleasant surprise about Rome. Sure, when you're near the Colosseum and you see a glitzy sit-down restaurant, it's going to cost you like €15-20 for a meal. However, I try to avoid tourist restaurants and in doing so, I end up spending €6-8 per meal, including drinks. What's also dangerous is that most gelato places only charge €2 for a small cup and two flavors. I've already had it 3 times, and yes, it is delicious and worth it.

-The city is surprisingly walkable: Maybe I'm just from LA, which is impossible to walk, but I thought a city of such size and age as Rome is would be more spread out. Everything in the center of town is a 30 minute walk max from everything else. This makes it easy to plow through landmarks, as there is always another one right around the corner from the one you just saw.

-You don't just get water at restaurants: Normally in America, when you order food at restaurants, they bring you water right away or give it to you free of charge. Though Roman tap water is perfectly good and safe to drink, they never serve it at restaurants. You have to buy a bottle.

-They don't care about graffiti unless it's along a major tourist route: I'm staying at a student apartment in the Trastevere neighborhood, which is southwest and across the river from the center of town. Every wall that could be graffitied, is. It's rampant here and also in the backstreets and alleys downtown. I'm not sure whether it's too rampant to do anything about it or nobody cares, but it's all over the place. However, the major streets and touristy areas all have spotless walls, so maybe it's a matter of emphasis.

-Paninis > regular sandwiches. Fight me if you disagree: Paninis are amazing and have become my lunch of choice. Every bar (coffee shop) has them and they're delicious and dirt cheap.

-Pretty much everyone smokes: It's impossible to walk anywhere without walking past at least a couple smokers, especially at night. It's what I imagine walking in 1950s New York was like. My favorite smoker was a guy who was duel wielding cigarettes, one in each hand. He may be slowly killing himself, but he's doing it in style.

Piazza Navona

-The city's 2000 year history mashes together: The best example of this is Piazza Navona, which is a Renaissance plaza built on top of the ruins of the ancient Roman stadium, which is now a tourist destination with upscale touristy restaurants, gift shops, and gelato bars everywhere. There are also streets you'll be walking down and there will be a random Roman ruin just sitting there. Once you get off the main streets, there are buildings that seem to be built off ruins of older ones. One part of a wall will look significantly older than the rest and other times, the first two floors will look old and the floors above will look much newer. 

-Most people speak some English: The first night I was here, I decided, probably against better judgment, to go out on my own in search of dinner. I went into a place and tried to order lasagna. All I know how to say in Italian right now is, "ciao" and "grazie," and you can't exactly order food with "hello" and "thank you." I stood there contemplating for a while before awkwardly pointing to the menu and saying "lasagna." The worker then asked if I wanted a drink. I couldn't understand him, so my mind reverted and I told him in Spanish that I needed a moment. He shot me a brief look of, "what the hell?" and then asked me if I spoke English. Though the English of a lot of people is broken, most of them understand enough for you to get your point across, though I feel like an arrogant, entitled American if I don't even try to speak Italian. Despite this,

-There's less of a culture shock than I thought there'd be: Maybe this is easier for me than others, but visiting Rome feels exactly like the times I've visited other cities. Places I've been like DC, New Orleans, and San Francisco are all markedly different than LA in their own way, and Rome feels like it has the same amount of difference. The cultural differences aren't as drastic as some people make them out to be. It's been a lot less culture "shock" and more of a culture "Hey, that's different. Alright."