Milk in Italian cappuccinos is creamier than back home. As I unfurl my arms in the morning sun at Piazza Farnese, I notice a foamy heart that swirls at the surface of my caffe macchiato. Creamy and full of none of that special oat milk nonsense I had back home. Landing in Rome to pursueContinue reading “A morning coffee in Rome”
Category Archives: The Places I Go
The “Love & Gelato” guide to Rome
Anyone who was a teenager in a generation gone by would have a romanticised vision of Rome told through the eyes of the tween character Lizzie McGuire. Before you start making references to “Paolo” and chanting the saccharine melody of “This is what dreams are made of”, Netflix has returned to this trope for theContinue reading “The “Love & Gelato” guide to Rome”
Eat, Pray, Love?
The first few posts of this blog have been spent carving out what my identity on this page should be: Am I a tourist? Am I an expat? Am I here for work or love? Is this my version of “Eat, Pray, Love”? Am I running away from my adult responsibilities? The fundamental answer toContinue reading “Eat, Pray, Love?”
6 souvenirs from Rome you (actually) want.
There is nothing worse than pretending you like a gift. The strain in your cheek muscles and the lacklustre glint in your eye as you say a high-pitched “I love it!” The worst souvenirs you can imagine abound here in Rome: magnets, teatowels, aprons with naked statues and the fiendish keyring. I remember that myContinue reading “6 souvenirs from Rome you (actually) want.”
Top 10 stops in North-Eastern Rome – Part 2
If you read the previous post successfully, you should be sugar laden and ready to explore a little closer to my place in the African Quarter. Viale Somalia, Viale Libia, Viale Etiopia and Viale Eritrea are the four main roads that delineate this neighborhood, but do not come expecting a vibrant African oasis in theContinue reading “Top 10 stops in North-Eastern Rome – Part 2”
Top 10 stops in North-Eastern Rome – Part 1
The sprawling elegance of the Villa Borghese Gardens – Living in the Northern quartiere, I consider the equisitely Italianate gardens of the Borghese nobility to be a little more central, but are a grand starting point to wander from the city centre (known as centro and pronounced – chen-tro) towards the North. From Piazza delContinue reading “Top 10 stops in North-Eastern Rome – Part 1”
Local
The outsider When you have lived somewhere for a couple of months, you start to make it your own. Having lived abroad before, I knew the escape to Rome in 2020 would have been much smoother than previous moves: I spoke the local tongue, had known one of my housemates from my past life inContinue reading “Local”
Galleria Colonna – Hidden in plain sight
You don’t have to be a history nerd or art snob to appreciate the beauty of Rome. What you do need to arm yourself with is the ability to see the world through the eyes of a child; the way a toddler is wide-eyed and shrieks with joy at the most banal everyday objects: aContinue reading “Galleria Colonna – Hidden in plain sight”
Rome’s buried Golden House – older than the Colosseum
If you have not read “Alice in Wonderland”, you have most likely seen snippets of the Disney take on this classic Lewis Carroll tale: an ingenuous girl with an innate sense of curiosity enters this magical world and embarks on this madcap adventure involving a Cheshire cat, the Queen of Hearts and the Madhatter. ItContinue reading “Rome’s buried Golden House – older than the Colosseum”
Palazzo Farnese – The best secret view
If you have been to Rome multiple times, I’m sure you have seen the main sites: Colosseum, Roman Forum, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Piazza Navona and the like. Admittedly, rattling them off like this does no justice to their majesty, but it does tell me that you need to start scratching below the surface of thisContinue reading “Palazzo Farnese – The best secret view”
The Adopted Italian 