Random Procession in the Streets

Walking home from the Termini today, there was some sort of procession on Via Merulana. I'm not exactly sure what the procession was for but it involved an alter of some sort, as well as several priests and monks. It consisted of about 100 people, priests and monks first followed by what I guess you could call civilians. The group was relatively small, but was led by a police car in the front, and behind was a full lane of traffic. I attempted to research what type of holiday or event it could be for, but there was no information available. I think it was some sort of memorial service for a saint of the church or something along those lines, only because priests and monks were involved. This assumption only comes from knowing how religious the people of Rome can be, and how many have strong ties to the church. Other than that idea, I really am not sure of what was going on, but it was interesting to see!

The streets of Rome are always a happening place. I am not sure whether it is just life that can be found in any major city or at this is just life in Rome. I have never lived in a place where every week certain streets are shut down for parades, festivals, markets, or even tourists. The narrow streets throughout the city always seem crowded. It is unusual for me, but interesting to see different events going on all around the city streets.

Boys Town of Rome

Today we took a journey to the city limits out to the Boys Town of Rome. This is a town run and resided by orphaned boys from around the world. The boys we met today hailed from Egypt, Morocco, and Afghanistan. It is now an American funded charity (the president of the organization explained that over 90%) which was created by an Irish priest in 1951.

The city is set-up to help underprivileged boys succeed in school and in life. The boys attend school and have jobs in the community, as well as chores around their living quarters and which includes cleaning and cooking. The boys are given the opportunity to acquire the life skills that they might not get otherwise. Sometimes it is easy to forget that others, especially children, are affected by circumstances outside of their control. In my opinion, the Boys and Girls Towns of Rome are a great alternative to orphanages or letting children otherwise live on the streets. It was nice seeing the philanthropic touch of Americans around the world first hand. I would recommend visiting the site yourself because it really makes you think about the privileges and opportunities you have had throughout your life that maybe other children never had.


Check out Boys Town here!

Where are the Supermarkets?

The Via del Corso has been a main street throughout Rome for centuries. There are three palaces and various other residential apartments above the clothing stores and restaurants that line the streets. Where are the supermarkets? Where is Di Per Di (a supermarket that can be found throughout the city)? Does it make any sense that no supermarkets can be found along this street? Then again, it is less than obvious that there are any living quarters whatsoever on this street. Perhaps having a supermarket would make the street seem a little less touristy and a little more "lived-in" than the city wants it to be portrayed as. I think this is just one of the possibilities. Regardless, there are shops nearby in Piazza Navona and the Pantheon that I have found. It is just strange to think that there is not one grocery store that can be found down the Corso.

Tourists

Rome is a city that is practically filled to the brim with tourists.

With a plethora of historical sites, museums, palaces, and ruins to check out it only makes sense that the tourist industry in Rome is booming. But what exactly does this mean for the city? It means fools like me are wandering around hopelessly trying to navigate the streets in an attempt to find the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain or the Colosseum. The attractions in Rome are spread far and wide throughout the city, not in one central historical part of town as one might expect. It is easy to walk into the middle of tourists snapping the cliche pic, as seen below (taken in Pisa not in Rome obviously). Due to all the tourists, many of the shops and restaurants are aimed at offering foreigners the authentic Italian experience of pastas and mini Colosseum replicas. Although I walk by these places and think "who would want that?" obviously these places exist because other tourists buy into the products. Are these tourist attractions in Rome really much different than the tourist attractions in any other country? Isn't the tourism industry built solely upon giving the "authentic" experience of life in another country? I think back at home we just don't notice that the same annoying street vendors and same terrible "authentic" food stores exist because we might avoid tourist areas altogether. Maybe getting the truest Roman experience requires a tourist to go to somewhere off the map, somewhere out of the center of town.

Sometimes when I go for a run, I just pick any street and I have seen a different side of Rome that I don't around the Colosseum area where I live. People are sitting outside, relaxing and enjoying the night. Windows of houses are open and it almost seems more lived-in than around Via Labicana where I live. I think it's giving a try to head out to a part of town without any big historic monuments or famous restaurants and maybe you will find a part of Rome that you didn't know existed.

Become a Tourist of Roma Just Like Me!

Competitive Shopping

Finding the best prices in shops on the Corso can sometimes be a difficult task. All along the streets are many different shops that range in price from $10Euro a shirt at one of the peddler stands to over $500Euro a shirt at Fendi. On the bright side. there are clothing stores scattered the whole way down the Corso providing shoppers with vast opportunities to find the perfect outfit. With such a large range in prices, one would imagine there is fierce competition between stores for customers. As an advertising major, I look at the location of stores, the clothes on the mannequins, and the names of the shops and try to figure out what the stores are trying to advertise to me. Doing this I came across a somewhat strange combination of these while walking down the Corso.

The other day, I was wandering down the Corso and noticed a very peculiar sight-- the Adidas and Nike stores were not only on the same block, but were RIGHT NEXT TO EACHOTHER on the street. How could this be possible? The two biggest competitiors in athetlic gear worldwide, with stores side-by-side seems unheard of. My next thought was NEVER in the States would this happen. There is no chance. I can almost guarentee that there are some sort of laws and standards against it. Maybe the logic behind it is to be blatant about the competition between the two while forcing consumers to immediately make a decision between which store he or she wants to shop in. I'm not exactly sure of the logic of doing it, but it's my best guess. So if you are looking for some fitness gear in Rome, you won't have to travel too far down the Corso.

Lively Neighborhoods

Via del Corso has a very lively neighborhood, which is why I picked it as my location to observe while in Rome.


The Corso is a straight road in the center of Rome, that goes from Piazza del Popolo to Piazza Venezia. The street is lined with several restaurants, gelato shops, clothing stores, museums, palaces, pharamacies, and even our school the Sede di Roma. None of the cities major tourist attractions are on the street, but the centralized location between many of the famous sites creates a heavy flow of tourism traffic in the area. The infamous sights that lie just a short walk from the Corso include the Pantheon, the Spanish Steps, the Roman Forum, and the Trevi Fountain. There are a few not as famous palaces, museums, and galleries that are on the street, such as the Galleria Alberto Sordi. It's a great buffer area between historic sights that allows tourists a break to shop and eat in the city. Several other parades and events occur down the Corso during the year, also drawing bigger crowds.