Well after some time I have decided that it would be a good idea to also have a facebook presence for my websites. So with this in mind I added Viva Rome to facebook and I want you to join me there.  I know that this website is not particularly interactive and this is why I think FB would be a great addition to this website.

You can easily find Viva Rome on facebook by going to:

http://www.facebook.com/vivarome

This is also part of my larger network on facebook called Europe Adventure Travel.  I also encourage all that wish to join me on there as well. Again this can be easily found at:

http://www.facebook.com/EuropeAdventureTravel

I hope to see as many people join. After all the more people I can say I have on these pages the easier it will be for me to secure unique discount deals on travel to and around Europe.

What you have to realize is that if you ask any Italian where they are from they will not immediately say their country but rather their city is how they relate where they are from.

Why is this? Well I believe this has to do with some deeply ingrained cultural idocryncacy that can only be understood if you are from that country. Now typically italians are warm, welcoming and very friendly but this is really not the case for those living in Rome. I do not consider Rome to be really Italian but rather Roman.

There is a distinction here that many will not realize until you have spent more then two weeks in the city. Romans are a gruff bunch who are not unfriendly but not particularly warm either. They are a seperate breed from most Italians.

Yes the Romans speak Italian and they are at the seat of the Italian government but I do not see the same cultural practices of many of the other Italian cities such as Florence, Naples and even Sicily. Is this a bad thing? Well that is up to your interepetation.

After spending four weeks in this city I began to realize this distinction as many others in my class. Would I move to Rome? I doubt it. I did not find myself particularly drawn to the noise and other unseemly parts of the city.

Now some students could easily adapt to the noise level. I found it kind of hard to do so. I guess even though I grew up in a suburb in America I was not ready for the drone of the city noise.  I am sure after time i would have adapted to the noise after more time in the city but just one month was not enough.

So if you are going to Rome and are going to actually live in an apartment then I would highly recommend buying ear plugs or some sort of white noise machine to make it easier for you to sleep. Some found that using their iPods with speakers a great way to fall asleep. I would recommend using this technique as you can more easily fall asleep to something that you are familiar with then these other distractions.

As I said I like Rome but it is not all wonderful. There are points of contention i have with the  city and the noise level is by far the biggest one.

However, I did want to put up a review of my experience at TorrediBabele in Rome, Italy. This was the language immersion school I attended while I was there and it was the reason I went to Rome in the first place. Now to be honest it was not always a pleasant experience but that is to be expected when you are in a foreign country for one month. You have to realize that not everything is going to go your way.

The best word that would describe the first week in Torredibabele would be stressful. But this is honestly what you want when trying to learn a language. If you go with the apartments that the school will set you up with then you are going to learn Italian much faster. This is because they choose to put you in apartments in non-tourist areas of Rome where very little to no English is spoken. I was put in Piazza Bologna area which is very near to the school. This area is extremely Italian and extremely Roman as well. This means that you better start talking Italian very fast otherwise you will have a very hard time.

The first task is just learning to survive when you can not speak the language fluently. This means finding and learning all you can about shopping for food and going out to eat. These are by far the two most important subjects in Italian you should learn first. If you do not know how to get food you will starve. Being a single guy in Rome is also a disadvantage. Most Italians seem very helpful to all the single girls but guys not so much. I am not sure why but I did notice a difference when ever I went out in a group.

Now as far as the lessons were concerned the school teachers will only speak to you in Italian. You can not speak a word of English, Spanish, or any other language while you are in class in this school. It is a forced language immersion school. But this is okay as the first day of class they do teach you how to ask questions in Italian so that you can try to understand what they are talking about. Some people found this forced immersion technique to be a bit stressful and either quit or broke down. I actually found this technique stressful as well but was lucky to find a friend in the school to help me out.

The very first day of class you are given your textbooks and a list of cultural events sponsored by the school. I would highly recommend that you attend these during your first week as that is one great way to make friends while you are away. Without some sort of friends your stay is going to be miserable.

The first week was a stressful one but I learned more Italian in this week then I ever would if I had studied it on my own. This is because of the classes and the environment as well. Rome is one hectic and noisy city and you best have your game face on if you want to learn the language. Italians do not like to speak English and would prefer to speak their own language. That is one great motivator in learning the language so that you can get along with more people while you are away.

However, with this being said I do not like the graffiti on the buildings like my other American counterparts I think it is a blight on the city and makes the city look really ugly and bad. I wish they would clean it up because it does not convey a good image for Italy. Now I know we are just visiting and when in Rome you should be like the Romans but I can not help to want to clean up the city a bit more.

This is the conflict you will experience in a foreign land. You will want to impose your believes and attitudes on the others who actually live there. This is not a good thing to do by any means. In fact it is quite wise to try to assimilate as much as possible in the community as you can. How you can do this is sometimes difficult but possible if you make the effort. My point with this post is to convey a sense of conformity that you will have to adopt when in a new land. You will have to suppress your biases and beliefs as much as possible in order to fit in. Enough said about that. Ciao.

When you are abroad and trying to learn another language this is osmething you are also going to experience as well. You really have to learn how to perform good time management. Many of my fellow students are adults so they are very good at managing themselves and how they practice their Italian.

I know I have improved but I have to ask myself if I have improved as much as I could have with the opportunities of seeing all of these great monuments and sights.  What I am saying is take advantage of the city but do not forget your purpose in being here. My purpose was to learn Italian and that is what I am doing. I guess it has all to do with how you spend your free time as well as your time in class. If you can spend your free time also learning Italian I am sure you are going to be get the most out of this experience. Well that is what I for today. Back to studying. Ciao.

For those that really want to know exactly where it is at it is Piazza di Spagna 46/47 or right in front of a nest of white taxis. This is something I have noticed quite a lot while here. The position of every McD’s is always in nearby a tourist attraction. I guess the executives at the headquarters realise the need for a Big Mac for every American.

Now for those that are really curious I actually did eat there. I ordered a Big Mac value meal or meal number one, or for those Italians meal number uno. Was it any different then in the United States? Just ever so slightly. The salt on the french fries was rock salt and not that fine salt we use in our chain stores back home. Did it make a whole lot of difference? Not really. But since this is something I really wanted to do since watching the show it was something I made a point of doing.

That was probably the one and only time I will eat in McD’s while here. I am a big believer in the slow travel movement and eating in that particular restaurant kind of goes against my grain. But at least I can say that I have been there. It is just another story to tell.

Well that is it for now, Ciao.

I have found that riding the metro to be one of the easiest options for me. All of the stops of the metro take me exactly where I want to go. There is even a stop right in front of the Coliseum so I found that to be really handy when I went there. As well there is a stop for the Spanish Steps.

One tip about riding the metro make sure you know ahead of time the direction or directions you want to go. I say directions as to get to every part of the city you need to change lines, from line A to line B for instance, at the terminal. It is fairly easy to do as you just follow the signs and you really only need a very basic understanding of the language to navigate.

If you want to be driven from one place to another I am sure you can get yourself a taxi. But you can not hail a taxi on the street. The taxis here all congregate either near a major hotel or a tourist stop. So if you are lost just follow where a whole bunch of taxis are going and there may be a metro stop nearby and certainly there may be some buses as well. That is how you can find your way back I found out. I just looked for a nest of white official Roman taxis and that led me to a way home. So please remember this tip if you should ever get lost in Rome. Just look for the white taxis and they will show you the way.

Typically before I go to class I have a cup of coffee of one sort or another. For me I just love the Cappuccinos that this small cafe makes on Via Padova. The cafe is called Costa Rica as that is where they get their coffee beans. Many of the locals also usually stop there in the morning as well. I find that I can really operate in the day if I have a great cup of coffee in the morning.

You can really tell much about the city by watching the hustle and bustle of the locals. The same people walk by the shoppe everyday so I guess I am becoming a fixture of the neighborhood. I know that the baristas know I go there just everyday for my coffee.

Now those that know me back home know of my love for a great cup of coffee and I usually stop by Starbucks in the morning. Since Starbucks basically ripped off the idea of the whole coffee culture from the Italians I guess I am not really breaking any new ground here. But still when you have a routine you have at home it is nice to continue it in a foreign land. Brings some sort of normalcy to your day and makes the day more complete. That is my thinking on the whole experience here.

Even though the last couple of days it has been wet. Cold and raining the city is still beautiful. I went out today to the Trevvi Fountain to not only see the fountain but I am on a mission to find this one snack bar we went to the first time we came to Rome. But since basically all of the snack bars serve the same food finding that particular sandwich shop has not been too high on my list. You see all of their Procuttoo Paninis taste very similar. If you really want to save money and are on a budget just stop by any snack bar for your dinner or lunch the food is pretty good and very cheap. A typical Panino and Coke is around 7 Euros and if you want it with wine then it is around 9 Euros depending on the wine you choose.

Well that is it for now.Will keep you all updated on my further adventures in this Eternal City. Ciao.

For instance one of the most wealthiest areas is by the Piazza di Spangna or in English by the Spanish Steps. This is a very rich and wealthy area of Rome with some of the finest shops in the whole of Rome. Those that can actually live there have plenty of money so the crime rate is pretty low. That and the police presence is quite high as well.

Getting lost was certainly an adventure that I can not really explain too much. You have to live and feel the city of Rome in order to fully understand what it is like to be here. It is something I highly recommend. I am so happy that I am taking my Italian language course from Torredibabele as the level of instruction is quite high.

I am on my second week and my Italian has gotten so much better then when I started. I still have a long way to go but with time and lots of practice I will get there. This school has a philosphy that I completely agree with in that they try to make you as uncomfortable as possbile so that you are forced to use as many resources to learn the language. They purposely place their students in situations where they are forced to use Italian on a daily basis. For instance I am forced to use Italian because the place I am staying in Piazza Bologna no English is spoken.

Also I have found that there is a huge contrast in prices with the Italian sections and the tourist sections of Rome as far as prices are concerned. If you really want to pay through the nose then by all means go to the tourist spots. But if you get off the beaten track you can save a lot of money. I am well under budget for this trip and I have had a few unexpected purchases. Well that is it for now. I will try to update you all again tomorrow. Ciao.