I have been to Italy once before in 2012 and Rome was never really on the radar.
In May 2023 we spent 4 days in Rome being tourists before we started a housesit in Trevignano Romano, 45 minutes north of the city.
Impressions of my first visit to Rome Italy.
Rome is a city that displays simultaneous elements of disciplined geometry and organic randomness. Some of the buildings employ amazing geometry, on the other hand life in the streets is wonderfully disordered.
The city is like a living museum – a cross between an exhibition and a living room.
Everywhere you look there is something of interest, around every corner there is a building that inspires awe. There are fantastic details hidden in obscure corners.
Rome is also to our relief very walkable.
A meander along any random, narrow, cobblestone street will eventually spill you out somewhere like the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps or an unknown yet stunning plaza.
Unlike many parts of Asia, which are unwalkable, Rome is fun to walkabout, especially if you are an early riser.
Piazzas, Fountains, Gelato
People hang out around the city’s fountains eating, making out, resting, or conducting business. In the evening they are places to eat, drink and have a good time.
There are the street musicians playing all of the Italian accordion classics. O Sole Mio or Tarantella Napoletana anyone? Click the links for some background music to get you in the mood.
Al Fresco
Rome has some really awesome food! Full of carbohydrates, sugar and caffeine.
Some of the al fresco dining spots feature ivy hanging over cracked pastel walls, backlit with fairy lights.
You will never look at a building the same again
There are tight rows of pastel-colored buildings, shedding years of flaking paint.
Old wooden doors are perfectly framed by ancient bricks and come complete with humanized lion-faced door knockers.
Apartment balconies feature drying laundry and geranium planters strategically placed for aesthetics.
Building materials are hoisted up from the street up to the third floor by rope and burly men.
A keen sense of fashion
There are exquisitely dressed men and women in sharp contrast to the fashion sense (or lack thereof) of some of the tourists.
Some of the dogs are dressed in designer apparel.
The tourists
There are crowds of cell phone camera wielding tourists, creating long winding lineups for the attractions.
Flocks of tour groups dutifully follow their guides who hold up flags, umbrellas or flowers for visibility.
Vendors sell umbrellas and plastic ponchos when it rains, hats and bottled water when the sun is out.
Very engaging African immigrants hustle the tourist crowds, eking out a living selling bric-a-brac and souvenirs.
Some tourists have a tendency to behave badly, including the soccer hooligans. There are army personal stationed at posts all glued to their cell phones, ready just in case.
People ply the sidewalks with suitcases in tow.
Police in snappy uniforms patrol the streets by foot.
The Roads of Rome
In the streets aggressive scooters weave in and out of traffic, cutting it close.
Zombie pedestrians and zombie drivers also narrowly avoid collision.
There are intermittent ambulances with doppler shifting sirens.
Generally speaking, there is a restrained use of car horns, that is until someone is slowing things up – then all hell breaks loose. Horns blast in unison.
Never thirsty
In the morning there are cars triple parked in front of cafes, there is also the thunderous crash of last evenings empty wine bottles being collected for recycling.
Public drinking water fountains are everywhere – no need to buy bottled water here if you have a container.
There are parakeets and aggressive dive-bombing seagulls – hang on tight to your Panini baby!
Sparrows rule the roost here, out maneuvering clumsy pigeons for crusts of bread. Swallows command the evening sky.
Churches abound!
Men wear cassocks or clerical collars and nuns wear their habits.
Rome is a place that is just – Wow!
“A fool is one who admires other cities without visiting Rome.”
-Francesco Petrarca, Italian Poet
