Roman Forum

While studying Italian in Rome students often spend the afternoons going off to the Colosseum, or the Roman Forum, the Trevi Fountain………..

….Piazza Navona, Piazza di Spagna, or Villa Borghese and other sites of historical, architectural or cultural interest. In fact for an English person like me who would rather sit in the sun in a piazza with some friends and a bottle of wine and good food, or in Villa Borghese, the groups of students who run off to Centro Storico after class can be quite distracting. Before studying Italian at Torre di Babele I visited many of the famous Roman sites on vacation but knew hardly anything about them. I was the typical British / American tourist in khaki shorts, sneakers, baseball cap, sporting a sunburnt face, eating a dripping pizza slice on the Egyptian obelisk of Rameses II from Heliopolis in Piazza Del Popolo, quite oblivious to the mess I was making on 3000 years of history.

For me the historical, artistic, cultural and gastronomic pleasures of Rome were simply interesting background scenery to the real business of taking in the sun and large amounts of very economical (and very good) Italian wine. But for others Rome’s culture and history are half or more of the reason they come, for example all of the art historians, artists, architects, stylists in the fashion industry and so on that I meet.

After many lost aternoons in the sun lazing in the parks of Rome with other students, I remembered that ‘cultural program thing’. Then I quickly forgot about it, and spent another month in the bars of Campio di Fiori, the Trattorias of Trastevere, and getting to know the ‘culture’ through lots of lovely Italian Tandem partners. (By the way: A ‘Tandem’ is where you meet an Italian and practice speaking, and then you talk in your own mother tongue so they can learn from you.) Finally I got pulled into a guided tour of Rome given by Stefania Vastano, the expert in ‘La storia dell’arte’, and realized that it was a way to both learn Italian and get some culture at the same time. Once I had gone I realized that I was missing out on a valuable aspect of being here: why come to Rome if you’re not going to take in the culture? A large part of the value many people get from the course is the cultural programme, which includes these tours, as it’s a lot cheaper than paying and going on the many given in your language, and the Italian is pitched at the right level so you can learn at the same time.

Watch out though Stefania will test you to see if you’ve been listening! And don’t get pulled into an aperitivo afterwards (which is nothing as classy as it sounds and nothing more than a drinking session, especially when English and German students are involved).

NEWS FLASH: Day passes in Rome without sun, first time in three weeks

Although a large number of people prefer to speak Italian all the time. You learn really quickly this way!

San Lorenzo is a favorite place to go to socialise as it has many bars, restaurants, cafes, music venues and discoteques and it has a lively atmosphere because of the students of the university. Many places are very economical also – in San Lorenzo cafe for example a bottle of beer cost €3.50, cocktails were €5.00 and wine is €3.50 also. You can choose from 15 bottles of Italian wine and there is a free ‘aperitif’ – so you can also eat a plate of free food! If you’re interested in wine you can learn about Italian wines in the school’s wine seminars. (There is also a great little place on Campo di Fiori that has an extremely large selection of wines, outdoor seating on the piazza.

Note: Campo di Fiori is another great place to go out.) San Lorenzo is 10 minutes from the school, simply take the tram from the main road next to the school.