While it has been short, it has totally been worth the while. It was so easy to think when I was back home in the States that I had seen everything; however, there is something about another country that you just can’t find back at home. Whether it is the diverse group of people that you meet or the unique foods that you get to sample, each country is truly an eye opening and fantastic experience.

After five weeks, I have made friends from all over the world. Ranging in location from Melbourne to Munich, my classmates formed an incredibly international group. This diversity made for interesting dinner conversations for sure as we could spend hours comparing cultures and talking about the differences in each of our countries.

My Italian has improved significantly. Definitely the best way to learn a language is through full immersion. Most would say a month is not even enough to scratch the surface of a new language but through the intensive courses and constant practice that is required when going to restaurants or reading signs in the metro, it has become easy to increase my vocabulary and begin to understand grammar. Starting off at Ciao and ending with past participles and imperatives was a huge jump to make in five weeks and it has been really rewarding to be able to have conversations with real Italians and have them actually understand what I am saying!

The experience has been really great, and I hope that one day, I will find myself back in Rome. But just in case, I will be sure to throw one last coin into the Trevi Fountain to secure my future visit!

The pulse of the city changed quite drastically yesterday as Man U and Barca fans crowded the streets, waving around their banners and chanting songs in restaurants, near monuments, and on the streets.

As the time of the game approached, a group of 15 of us from the school attempted to find a place to sit and watch the game. After a couple minutes of wandering, we found prime seats in a restaurant that served dirt cheap dinners and had a big screen TV right in front of our tables. The group ordered pizzas and drinks, getting ready for the game.

The atmosphere from the kick off onwards was incredible. I have never seen a group of more passionate Barcelona fans in my life. And as the game progressed, two men from BBC started interviewing the group in front of us on their opinions of the game. The chaos was hysterical and unique.

At the end of the game, due to true exhaustion, I headed back to the apartment and slept. However, tales were retold the next day at school of loony fans that escaped past the Rome caribinieri and scrambled up the Trevi Fountain. Apparently quite a sight to see hundreds of fans lining the Piazza and trying to avoid the human barricade created by the police in order to revel in the moment while splashing around in one of Rome’s most famous fountains.

The night was great – getting to experience the atmosphere that is attached with hosting the Champions League final was thrilling and exciting. While completely unattached to the result of the game, it was still a blast to see all the fans cheering (or crying!) throughout the city.

As the time of the game approached, a group of 15 of us from the school attempted to find a place to sit and watch the game. After a couple minutes of wandering, we found prime seats in a restaurant that served dirt cheap dinners and had a big screen TV right in front of our tables. The group ordered pizzas and drinks, getting ready for the game.

The atmosphere from the kick off onwards was incredible. I have never seen a group of more passionate Barcelona fans in my life. And as the game progressed, two men from BBC started interviewing the group in front of us on their opinions of the game. The chaos was hysterical and unique.

At the end of the game, due to true exhaustion, I headed back to the apartment and slept. However, tales were retold the next day at school of loony fans that escaped past the Rome caribinieri and scrambled up the Trevi Fountain. Apparently quite a sight to see hundreds of fans lining the Piazza and trying to avoid the human barricade created by the police in order to revel in the moment while splashing around in one of Rome’s most famous fountains.

The night was great – getting to experience the atmosphere that is attached with hosting the Champions League final was thrilling and exciting. While completely unattached to the result of the game, it was still a blast to see all the fans cheering (or crying!) throughout the city.

Meike wrote:
Hallo… I’m Meike from Köln, Germany. Me and boyfriend are considering the possibility of spending two weeks in Rome. However, I must confess, we are on a tight budged. I was wondering whether it would be a good thing to visit Rome on a budget, or shall we wait for a while until we have a enough?

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Hi Meike…

Honestly – I also came to Rome on a very tight budget… wait, let me rephrase that, an acutely tight budget! I asked a friend of mine the same question. Here is her answer…. hopefully this will shed some light on your question.

Hey Carlie…

If you plan to do a lot of sightseeing in a few days, then it’s definitely worth buying a Rome Tourist Pass which is valid for 3 days. The Rome Tourist Pass grants you entry into all the attractions (except the Vatican Museum) as well as bus, train and metro.

Also keep in mind that some sites offer free entry at certain times of the month (i.e. the Vatican Museum offersFree Entry on the last Sunday of each month). However, you might get in for free, but so will hundreds of other people, so be prepared for crowds!

Don’t forget that some of the best things in life are free – and wandering the streets of Rome, day or night, can be a wonderful experience and doesn’t cost a thing.

The line in her email, “Don’t forget that some of the best things in life are free” made me re-think my whole position of coming to Rome. I realized that almost 90% of the real attractions in Rome are for free. The Trevi Fountain, Piazza Navona, the Roman Forum, The Gianicolo, Trastevere and its churches, The Pantheon… just a few of the many open air attractions which are for free… so I set my budget for my language course and daily living expenses, and came over with lots of energy to wander around. Believe me, in two weeks you won’t have the time to see everything Rome has to offer – it’s an extraordinary city!

I hope this has changed your position and you make it to Rome. It really is possible to see Rome on a budget. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to see ancient works of art in a cosmopolitan city which has lots to offer… you and your boyfriend won’t regret it, I promise!!

Carlie

P.S. @ Everyone! As usual… please comment on any monuments or attractions which one can visit for free in Rome.

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