What Not To Do In Rome

Fire crackers and champagne alike exploding too close for comfort, Italian gibberish a deafening roar undulating in my perimeter. Chilly days, but warmth still able to be found under the sunshine. The friendliest bellhops, the most beautiful piazzas, indulgent dinners with course after course of pasta.

That Rome, the Rome in which I welcomed 2014, is a Rome of teenage girl dreams.

This Rome – in the heat of summer, the overbearing, suffocating heat – with tour buses lacking functioning air conditioning, with masses of tourists and nary a pocket of fresh air, with restaurant hosts basically herding you to their menu of overpriced, underwhelming food with the promise of free (but snail's pace) WiFi... is not so lovely.

If I had one piece of advice for you, my friend, it's to avoid visiting Rome during peak seasons.

The appeal of Rome stems from its history, from its romantic atmosphere. But the sad thing is, all of that fades when the greatest number of people come to see it. It's hard to process the capacity for brutality and energy and bestiality of gladiator fights in the Colosseum, difficult to understand how many centuries the stones have survived, when you're jostled by the selfie sticks shoved into your side. It's hard to imagine the foundations of democracy in the Roman Forum when you're SO frustrated by how hot it is, your only concern is finding the closest exit. The rotten cherry on top of this sad milkshake, is that most of the landmarks were under construction. While upkeep and maintenance is of course expected to a certain extent, it kind of sucks when the Trevi Foundation is completely shut down and every attraction had some sort of scaffolding.

When in Rome...

DON'T ... visit in the summer. Just go to Epcot.

DO ... go as far away as possible from the touristy areas for food. I found amazing al dente pasta at a hole-in-the-wall restaurant owned by a really nice Italian couple {Trattoria Re di Roma} and THE MOST AMAZING TIRAMISU OF ALL TIME {chocolate & banana tiramisu at Pompi} close by. In tourist central, don't miss out on the popular cappuccino walk-up bar, Caffe Sant'Eustachio and Don Nino, a deeeeeelicious gelateria.

DON'T ... take one of those tour buses. Lines are long, routes are roundabout and not very convenient, and it's not the cheapest. Also, you may or may not be led astray by a limping sweet-talker who makes you walk twenty minutes simply to buy the tickets. Learn from our mistakes, people! The Rome metro will take you anywhere you need.

DO ... visit: Piazza Navona, the Spanish Steps, and Piazzale Napoleane, the lookout above Piazza del Popolo. The prettiest. Also, next time I go (yes Rome, of course I'll give you another chance), I want to stay in the Trastevere neighborhood. I've heard that it's authentic, classically Rome, and has food that's top notch.

DON'T ... limit yourself to any packed itinerary. My favorite Rome memory from this summer might just be when Cassandra and I succumbed to the smell of Belgian fries, shared a huge bouquet of them while chatting in a tiny park in the dark. My other favorite is probably when we watched an episode of Buffy in the hotel, tiramisu in hand (it always comes back to that tiramisu).

DO ... as Lizzie McGuire would do. Because no matter what, this is what dreams are made of. Hey now. Hey nowwwwwww!!

The end of our stay in Rome also marked the end of Kelly's portion of the trip. After we waved her off to the train taking her to the Rome airport, we prepared ourselves for Naples and all that's left ahead. 
Naples might be the sketchiest place I've ever visited. But, you'll have to wait to hear about that. That, and how the pizza made it all worth it.
For more posts about Rome (from New Years 2014, and it was bittersweet to read how much I loved loved loved Rome in chillier times) :: 1, 2
Um, that SuperBloodMoon? What?! Did you see it?? I was with my roommates - we pulled over on the top of a hill on our way to get Vietnamese food, with the bay on one side and the San Francisco skyline on the other. The red, slightly translucent orb. Otherwordly.