10 Free Things to do in Rome

This list is a recount of some of the activities I recommend for anyone coming to visit Rome and on a student budget. All of the following things I have taken a part in during my semester in Rome, and they are safe, but best of all, FREE!

1) Walk around the Villa Borghese. The Villa Borghese Gardens is a relaxing park that gives you sanctuary from the loud city-life of Rome. There are lakes with benches so you could read in the sun, rent segways and rowboats, admire the ruins of ancient temples, and pick, of course from the hundreds of flowers. Additionally inside of the park, which is not free though, is the zoo of Rome, and is one of the oldest zoos in all of Europe.

2) People-watch on the Spanish Steps in Piazza di Spagna. This may not sound fun originally when reading this, but honestly I have had so much fun in Rome people-watching. At the Spanish Steps, there are usually so many tourists, street vendors, and people are always doing crazy things. During my times at the Spanish Steps I have seen a commercial being shot, wedding photos being taken, and seen Americans pose for Facebook pictures doing the weirdest things. WARNING: If you decide to sit on the Spanish Steps, bring a book, just because you will be harassed by the gypsies. Even if you’re Roman, the gypsies still have a need to sell you the most frivolous items. They will come up to your with roses, throw them in your face screaming, “This is a free gift, free!” DO NOT accept this “gift”, under any circumstances accept it, because in the end they will have you pay for it. Therefore, by bringing a book, you can use it as a barrier between them and you, and after two minutes they will get the hint and leave you alone.

3) Shop at the Porta Portese. The Porta Portese is an interesting find in Rome; it is an outdoor flea market that is miles long. Here you can find all your tourist souvenirs of I LOVE ROMA shirts for really cheap, or any Roman antiques you may wish to purchase to remember your time in Rome.

4) Relax at the Vatican. By going to the Vatican, you are technically going to another country, and it is the smallest country in the world! Also good news you won’t need a passport to experience one of the most important locations of Catholicism. At the Vatican you can sit in the center of St. Peter’s Square, go visit the crypts/tombs of the popes, and see St. Peter’s Basilica, all for the grand total of FREE! Also the Vatican Museums are free to visit on the last Sunday of each month, other days it is 15-20 euro for tickets.

5) Eat lunch at the Trevi Fountain (La Fontana di Trevi). The Trevi Fountain is a beautiful fountain near the Metro A stop, Barberini. During the day it is a little noisy because of the tourists, but you can sit on the stairs and enjoy a nice little picnic if you have time. Even if you only have a minute there, throw a coin into the fountain for good luck. The legend is if you throw in a coin into the fountain, your wish will come true. Additionally, if you throw one coin in you will return to Rome again in your life, two you will fall in love with a Roman, and three you will marry an Italian.

6) Put your hand in the Bocca della Verita. This takes only 5 minutes to do, but it is one of the more “off-the-path” things to do in Rome. The Bocca della Verita is supposed to be the “mouth of truth”; therefore, the legend is that if you stuck your hand in it and told a lie, your hand would get chopped off.

7) See the Colosseum at night. Although this monument is beautiful during the day, it is even prettier at night. They light up the Colosseum, and it is the perfect place to sit under the moon and stargaze.

8) Drink out of a Roman water fountain, in a Roman style. You may think, “What’s so special about this? Isn’t it just a water fountain?” Nope! The water fountains in Rome are 100% sanitary and they are everywhere in streets. Below is a picture of what one looks like, and it is complicated to drink from in an eloquent way. You need to block the flow of water with your finger, and drink it from the top hole. It sounds more difficult that it is, and the Romans do it very nonchalantly when they want to pause and get a drink.

9) Go to the Pantheon – The Pantheon was originally a pagan temple, and then was converted into a church. It is a famous monument in Rome, and it is free to walk inside and admire. The interesting thing about the Pantheon is that it was one of the first free standing domes in the world, and has an open hole on the ceiling. My host family said that if it is ever snowing in Rome, go to the Pantheon because the hole is still open and the snow looks heavenly falling into the monument.

10) Party in Piazza Navona and the Campo di Fiori. In Rome there is no limits of where to go for night life; however, the two more popular locations to go out as a student is in Piazza Navona or Campo di Fiori. People do not just sit in bars in these areas, but rather publicly drink and get crazy in the piazzas. Even if you do not like to drink, it is still an amusing site to see all the Italians partying in the piazzas.

The Little Town of Assisi

This past weekend, I took a day retreat to Assisi with a few friends to get out of the crazy city life of Rome, and enjoy nature and relax from my past hectic week. However, much to our surprise Assisi had more tourists in it than Rome does during this time of year, and it was very crowded. The reason I desired to go to Assisi was to reflect upon my faith, and hopefully get to see the beautiful scenery that is offered there. Although due to some minor setbacks at the beginning of the day with our trains, we arrived in Assisi with 6 hours to explore. Within that time we saw the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli, Basilica of Santa Clara, and the Basilica of San Francesco, all of which are majorly significant churches to Roman Catholics. We began the day wandering Assisi without a map, having no plan, and relying on the locals for directions in Italian.

The first site we went to was the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli, which is known as the “church inside a church”. The significance of this basilica is that it contains the chapel that St. Francis of Assisi built with his own hands after having his vision of God telling him to “build his church”. St. Francis took this literally and began to build a church by hand, and today it still remains intact but housed by a bigger basilica which was built later on. Additionally, this was the spot in which St. Francis died, and it is home to the Rossetto Garden, which another important miracle in Assisi occurred. During St. Francis’ life he fell into a rose garden and instead of getting pierced by all of the thorns from the roses, the roses miraculously lost all their thorns. Therefore, even to this day, the roses in the Rossetto Garden do not have thorns.

After seeing this beautiful basilica and reflecting there for a while, we moved onto the next site which was the Basilica of Santa Clara (St. Clare). This Basilica houses many of the relics of Assisi that drive people from around the world to visit this tiny town. Here there is the hair of St. Clare, the shoe of St. Francis, and many more, but the most important is the body of St. Clare herself. It was amazing to see the respectfulness people had when they were in the same room as St. Clare. People were dead silent, no one was taking tourist pictures, and everyone was praying before her. Her body was beautifully preserved in the lower floor of this basilica, and in a glass box for all to see and pray to. Below is a picture I got from online because I did not want to be disrespectful to others and take a picture during my time there:

Then finally we made it up the mountain of Assisi to see the grand event of where St. Francis is buried in the Basilica of San Francesco. However, due to important renovations being able to see where St. Francis was not accessible to the public. Although that was a disappointment, the basilica compensated for it with all of the beautiful artwork inside of it. It was incredible, I have a picture below to show how grand and magnificent that church was.

At the end of the day looking back on our day in Assisi on our train home back to Rome, it was incredible. I thoroughly enjoyed learning more about the founders and martyrs of Catholicism, and I recommend going there. The best part was that it was only four hours from Rome, and was a 12 euro round trip. Assisi is a beautiful town and has so much to offer for just a day trip.

Bon Appetite!

Last week I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to be an Italian chef for the day in Rome! The cooking class I signed up for was making a three course of real Italian food, and I had the chance to do it with a group of my friends. The course was 30€, which was a discounted price from 60 € so it was a great deal to do on a student budget.

We all had our roles during the cooking class with Chef Andrea, who was a very handsome, amazing Italian chef. My first job in the kitchen was to clean all the vegetables that were using for our pasta Bolognese sauce, make a sauté out of them, and then stir them into a sauce with the other ingredients people were working on. Following, my second job was to whisk the dough together with some eggs in order to create the dough for the noodles. This process may sound easy, but it is so tiring that everyone got a chance to do it. After the dough was made for the noodles, I had the opportunity to cut up the dough, and put it into the pasta machine. This machine was extraordinary, in that it elongated the dough into making it really thin. Then you needed to change the setting on the machine, in order for it to cut up the dough into noodles. We all had our tasks during this process of flouring the dough, cutting, turning the machine handle, and catching the noodles created from the pasta maker.

In the end, with all of us working together in the kitchen we created homemade pasta with a Bolognese sauce, a meat dish, and strudel. After slaving in the kitchen for this food, we sat down to a group dinner and enjoyed our creations.

Ostia Antica

If you ever want to have a picnic in ancient ruins, go to Ostia Antica, honestly do not question it, just go there! Ostia Antica is an old port that was used in during the ancient times of the Roman Empire. It is an archaeological site, where currently there are still being excavations done. It is only twenty minutes from the center of Rome, and if you have a monthly metro pass, you can travel there for free on the Lido train. When you arrive there, if you just say “Dov’e’ ruins?,” people know exactly where you want to go, and will help you get there. The ruins are only €3.25 for students, so it is a lovely, convenient place to have a day trip and a picnic.

My friends and I decided to go to Ostia Antica yesterday for a picnic, and we were super picturesque about it. We had a picnic of fresh fruit and vegetables, while eating in an ancient amphitheater. Our food was delicious, and what made it an even better experience, was that it was sunny!

When you walk through the ruins, it is literally like stepping back into Ancient Rome. It may just look like a bunch of stones and weeds, but if you read the signs along each the pathways, it is very interesting to know what existed there centuries ago. The signs showed that back in time the Romans never wasted any space; there were offices, marketplaces, basilicas, graves, and a town hall. This forum was very vital for Rome, because it used to be the major port where they would fish, shop, and export/ import goods. Additionally, there are no barriers on this site, so you can wander anywhere, even climb on the ancient ruins.

Stranded in Santorini

Ciao! I apologize for not blogging recently; I was on my la pausa primavera (spring break).

The first place on my adventures was to Greece, in which I toured and stayed in Athens and Santorini. We arrived in Athens at 8 am, after a three hour flight from Rome. Therefore, as you may think, we were already exhausted from traveling, so it did not occur to us that there was a time difference between Rome and Athens. That ended up being a major problem later on when we were too early for our ferry. Additionally, no one in my group of friends knew Greek, so we are a group of 4 girls and one boy, in Athens not knowing the time or the language of the natives.

We wandered through the city of Athens, and the culture there is shown through everything, from people’s clothes, language, and especially in their food. After getting into the center of the city, we went to the acropolis, and it was amazing to see the ruins of the Theater of Dionysus and the Parthenon. The nice part of the area was that a majority of the ruins are still intact, so it is as if you’re are in Ancient Greece. Additionally, on your way to the top of the Parthenon there is a lovely view of Athens, and poppies are leading the walk ways. After reaching the top and seeing all the white and blue rooftops of the homes in Athens, we adventured to find food and the infamous Greek frappes. A man approached us speaking perfect English, and we were a tad skeptical at first thinking that the restaurant was a tourist trap restaurant, but he did offer us free drinks and desserts. Naturally, being poor, college students, we accepted and sat down to our first Greek meal. Additionally as a side note, I am now obsessed with Greek cooking, and I would like to now marry a Greek man just so I can have their family cooking. All of the food we received was fresh, and better than anything I have tasted, and I am Italian so that is saying a lot about how amazing it was. We had everything from lamb to roasted vegetables to casseroles and drank it all down with frappes. A frappe is an iced coffee, with cream and sugar, then depending on your preference it can have vanilla or chocolate ice cream with fudge. It is like having a milkshake, but it’s with goat milk so it is sweet. After our complimentary dessert and drinks, the bill still came out to less than ten euros per person. If you ever have to go to Athens, never worry about tipping or service fees, and in the end it was alot cheaper than Rome.

The next step of our journey was a seven hour ferry ride from Athens to Santorini. Santorini is an island famous for its beaches. The ferry ride seemed like a lifetime, but we docked on the island at 2 am, and our hostel owner so kindly gave us a ride to the hostel. For the next two days we adventured through Santorini, saw the black sand beach, attempted to find donkeys, hiked, and sat on the docks taking in the scenery. We thought this would be the relaxing aspect of our spring break before we went to Barcelona and Lisbon, but we ended up being very wrong.

So after our time in Santorini, it was time to go to the docks for the ferry ride back to Athens, and then it was onto Barcelona. The weather was slightly raining, but was nothing more than a drizzle when we arrived at the waiting station for the ferry. Our ferry was scheduled to arrive at 11:30 pm, as we looked to the clock we saw it was 11 pm, so we were early to get onto the boat. Slowly time passes, and we noticed that the rain became harder. My friends were getting nervous that the ferry would not come, but I assured them that by growing up along the water that ferry boats are more than stable enough to survive through a tiny rain storm. The time of 11:30 pm approaches, and the Santorini police came into the waiting dock station to tell us that the ferry service went on strike and is not coming until tomorrow night. Naturally, we were nervous that we wouldn’t make our flight for the following day to Barcelona, and would never get off this island! We ran to the ferry desk to see when if we could get our money refunded, or if we could get on a flight off the island for the next morning. The man did not understand or speak English, literally the only man on the whole island who did not know English was at this ferry desk at midnight in the rain. So we called our contact from the hostel, who was kind enough again to pick us up at the dock and bring us back to the hostel for the night. This man was so kind to us, that he even offered to drive us to the airport the next morning to get a flight. He was too nice, that we declined his offer knowing that the morning flight off the island would most likely be full by now. Being the intelligent group that we are, we were right.

The following day, we went to the ferry office to get our tickets refunded, but they said that they did not do them at the office. Angrily, we booked our flights for later that night, and realized that we would then have to cancel our Barcelona flights. We spent the whole day in Santorini wandering around looking homeless with our luggage. Then for the day we basically just ate because we had nothing to do. Additionally, the weather was awful, because it rained and was terribly cold. So we wandered around some of the island, had a break, and then got an early dinner before we had to leave for the airport. We took shelter from the rain in this one restaurant called Mama’s Restaurant, and we were taken in as Mama’s children. She told us that she would feed us right, and that the ferries here are awful so she understood our frustration. As we sat down to eat our delicious meal, which she made herself, it started to hail outside. Nevertheless, everyone thought that our flight would be cancelled, and then we would have to reschedule and lose even more money. However, Mama gave us her blessing, and told us that were would continue our journey with no problems. After the dinner, we headed to the airport, and the weather only got worse, which made us get even more nervous.

In the end, we did get onto the plane in what seemed to be the middle of a hurricane, and it was the scariest plane ride of my life. The ride had so much turbulence, and even though it was only 30 minutes, it seemed like a lifetime. The plane landed safely in Athens (thanks to Mama’s blessing), and since we spent €200 for changing our flights, we thought the best thing would be to sleep in the airport until our flight to Barcelona. At first I was skeptical about sleeping in the airport; however, this airport was nicer than JFK back in New York. The airport was empty when we arrived at 11 pm, so we found a section of suede couches, and slept there for the night. We all took turns in staying awake to watch the luggage, and surprisingly we had a good night sleep. Finally, 8 am rolled around, and we were boarding our plane for Barcelona. All of these events made me even more ready for the rest of spring break, and after it I felt like I could handle anything.

Down below were some of the important phrases I picked up during my trip to Greece:

Hello - γειά σου - Pronounce: Azu

Thank you- σας ευχαριστώ- Pronounce: Echristo

Good Bye – αντίο – Pronounce: Avio

Where is the bathroom - όπου είναι το μπάνιο – Pronounce: Apoo nel un bagno.

Below are pictures from the trip:

This is Mama:

Climbing the acropolis

Greek Frappes