Transportation
Money
Food
Places to visit
Things I wish I’d known about Rome before going
Transportation
The transportation system (Roma ATAC) in Rome is actually very good. They have trams, buses, and a metro system. There are taxis but I never used one of those; however, I have heard that they are not wildly expensive. You will probably be using the system a lot if you are there independently without a tour and a bus, so depending on how long you are in Rome I would recommend the 7 day unlimited ticket which is 24 euro or the month long card which is 35 euro (card is 5 euro and filling it is 30 and it is 30 for each month after that). This allows you to travel as much as you want for 7 days/30 days WITHIN the walls of Rome. If you are taking the metro to/from Fiumicino International Airport you will have to purchase a different ticket for about 8 euro. If you are taking the bus to Ciampino Airport you technically have to purchase a ticket of 1.50 but I never actually bought the ticket. The conductors do not often check tickets, especially on the buses, but if you are found without a valid ticket you could be subject to a hefty fine of up to 800 euro. Better safe than sorry; buy the ticket. Bring comfortable walking shoes! Some days the tram/bus/train drivers go on strike; however, it is a very accommodating kind of strike; they run commuter buses in the early morning and evening so people can get to and from work. They usually announce the strike on the Roma ATAC website a few days before but sometimes they are random.
Money
Do not carry large amounts of cash as Rome is absolutely full of pickpockets. In fact, Vatican City has the highest crime rate in the world because of the pickpocket problem. There are plenty of ATMs around Rome, and they have English language options. If you want to be extra cool, find the ATM in Vatican City where the language options include Latin! Carry your wallet in a crossbody handbag if you’re a woman; gents are advised to carry theirs in an inner coat pocket or front jeans pocket, somewhere where they can feel it in contact with their body. Crowded buses/streets/lines are the places pickpockets target the most. I personally never had a problem with someone trying to take my things but some of my friends did.
Food
Food in Rome is often touristy and overpriced; however, authentic Italian cuisine can be found if you know where to look. Suppli Roma (just off Piazza di San Cosimato (side note: there is a farmer’s market in San Cosimato and they have great local fresh produce!)) in Trastevere was my favourite. They have SO many types of pizza; pizza with ham, pizza with grated potatoes, plain pizza, Margherita pizza, zucchini flower pizza, anchovy pizza...and they make it right there, you see your pizza come out of the oven and onto the counter! They also sell suppli, as per the name of the shop. Suppli are not Italian, they are ROMAN. It is a fried ball, the outside breaded, the inside rice and marinara sauce with a ball of mozzarella cheese in the middle. Other places sell them too but Suppli Roma has the biggest ones for the smallest price. They are great if you want a cheap lunch on the go.
If you are returning from a night out on the town and everywhere is closed, try Istanbul 34 right next to Stazione Trastevere (Trastevere Train Station). They sell amazing kebabs for 4 euro; one of them lasts me two meals! They also hand you falafel as soon as you walk in the door. It is a great place apart from the fact that the proprietors are Muslims from Turkey and the younger guys may flirt with you and ask you back to Turkey to be their wife even if you have a man and they know that. But hey, then they give you free food!
The Food Factory in Trastevere also sells very cheap food; maybe it is not the best, but it is extremely affordable, so if you are strapped for cash (hello, college students) you can definitely find some fresh homemade lasagna there, a full plate for 4 euro.
There is also a pizzeria called Carlo Menta; I never actually got to go but it’s well known that they have really good pizza and it’s affordable. A good place for dinner with friends.
For drinking and eating, The Abbey Theatre Irish Pub is definitely the best! They have excellent Guinness and student discounts on mixed drinks. They have a thing called Taco Tuesday where you get a plate of 3 tacos for 3 euro and you can get nachos for about 4. They have dinner food like burgers and they have sides like fries, mozzarella sticks, onion rings, etc. It is the best place to go for a date or something. Getting there: take Tram 8 to Piazza Venezia and walk straight down the Corso di Vittorio Emanuele, and you will see signs telling you when to turn.
And finally, no visit to Rome would be complete without gelato! Del Viale Gelateria is THE BEST place for gelato ever. It cannot be topped. You have the option of either a cone or a cup in varying sizes and there is a multitude of flavours to choose from. It is all homemade and the little shop is decorated inside with pictures of Audrey Hepburn. Getting there: it is just before you cross the Tiber River, just across from Piazza Belli.
Coffee: I was not really a coffee person before Rome. Jake was even less of a coffee person. But...there’s such a vibrant coffee culture in Italy, it’s almost impossible not to be sucked into it. The Thomas More kids all frequent a small, out of the way bar (coffee shop), on the Via di Affogalasino, Bar Indian e Squaw. Cappuccinos are very cheap there and extraordinarily good, even better if you ask for a cappuccino con Bailey’s! Another good bar is the Wine Bar right near the Vatican; you exit St. Peter’s facing down the Via Conciliazione and turn right, and soon you find the Wine Bar. They have a very good selection of cornetti (pastries) there. We always went there for breakfast with our seminarians from the Pontifical North American College after Friday morning Mass in St. Peter’s.
Places to Visit
You can read many lists of places you must see in Rome, but in fact many of the things most worth seeing are not going to be on any of those lists and vice versa. I had always heard about the grandeur and magnificence of the Coliseum and the Roman Forum, but when I went I was rather disappointed. The Coliseum is not like what you see in the movies any more; much of the central arena is buried, and the bleachers are crumbling hills of stone. Of course, it is beautiful, but I am glad I went on a free day and didn’t have to pay the hefty entrance fee. So, go to the Coliseum but you don’t need to go in; your visions of splendour will be shattered. From the outside it is far better.
Definitely go to the four major basilicas: St. Peter’s, St. John Lateran, Saint Mary Major, and Saint Paul Outside The Walls. St. Peter’s is obviously in Vatican City, but St. John Lateran and St. Mary Major are also part of the Vatican as they enjoy extraterritorial membership of said country.
I really cannot say enough about St. Peter’s except to reiterate that it is the most majestic, grand, and awe-inspiring structure I have ever seen in my life. I saw it for the very first time on a freezing cold morning in January; it was raining, and the cobblestones of the piazza were wet. The colonnade stood tall and majestic around the square, and in front of us the basilica itself glowed with an unearthly, heavenly light. No matter that it was 6am and I was shaking with cold. An eternity would not be enough to take in even the beauty and intricacy of the facade alone. Inside was equally splendid, perhaps even more so than the outside due to the colourful marble, the statues, the paintings, the intricate side chapels, etc. If you want to get a visual representation of the power and stability of Catholicism, look no further than St. Peter’s Basilica. It is, to me and a few others, the most beautiful and special place in the world.
In the area of St. John Lateran are two other places; Santa Croce in Gerusalemme and the Pontificio Santuario della Scala Santa. Santa Croce was founded by St. Helen, mother of Constantine and finder of the True Cross, which resides in Santa Croce along with the Nails, Titulus, Crown, and the finger of Doubting Thomas. The Scala Santa, or the Holy Steps, were brought from Jerusalem and set up in Rome. They are the steps up which Christ walked up to the praetorium when He was sentenced to death. It may seem tedious, but there is a pilgrimage option: climbing the steps on the knees. In fact, this is the only way you are allowed on them. I highly recommend it. Do it.
The Musei Vaticani (Vatican Museum) is also worthwhile. There is so much beautiful art, and the Capela Sixtina is in there too. Just plan to be there VERY early (I would advise 7 am) as the lines are extremely long and crowded museums are not fun.
Basilica di Santa Maria in Trastevere and the piazza (Piazza di Santa Maria in Trastevere) are absolutely iconic. The church is the first church in Rome dedicated to Our Lady and it dates from the 300s. The flooring is original Cosmati and the mosaics in the apse are truly legendary. The piazza is the centre of traditional Roman nightlife; surrounded by bars, a gelateria, etc., it is rarely quiet. In the middle of the square there is an enormous fountain with steps to sit on. If you are grabbing lunch from somewhere local (hint hint, Suppli Roma!) this is a great place to sit. Who knows, you may even see Dr. Connell passing through on his way home, or to San Cosimato to buy clementines, or to pick up a simple porchetta for lunch.
If you like vintage shopping, very near Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere is a vintage shop called Twice Vintage. It’s on the Via di Francesco a Ripa and has a great selection of clothes, shoes, bags, etc. I got a great dress there, cream coloured with a pink floral pattern.
Definitely spend some time by the Tiber River. There are many bridges and each holds a distinctive charm. The Ponte Sant’Angelo is my personal favourite. As the name suggests, it is lined with statues of angels. If you look closely, each angel is holding one of the instruments of the Passion, and on the pedestal of each statue is a Latin inscription pertaining to each instrument (e.g., the angel holding the spear has inscribed beneath him: “Vulnerasti cor meum”, which translates to “Thou hast ravished (or wounded) my heart”). I would suggest this particular bridge as a good place to meditate on the Passion while walking across, however, this is the bridge that leads directly to Castel Sant’Angelo and the Via della Conciliazione which is the broad avenue leading to St. Peter’s Basilica, and as such is swarming with pickpockets and illegal vendors who can get quite aggressive. So keep your wits about you if you do decide to pray on this bridge.
Sant’Andrea della Valle boasts the biggest dome in Rome besides St. Peter’s. Jake and I found this quite by accident but boy oh boy, weren’t we glad we did! The ceiling is highly ornamented, the large dome and smaller secondary domes are dazzling, and towards the vestibule is a mirror tilted so that you can gaze at the majesty above you without getting a crick in your neck. They have really sweet people working there, all volunteers, who offer free audio guides. No donation is asked, but you can put a few coins in the poor box. This church is also important to music fans, as Puccini’s famous opera Tosca opens in a side chapel of this church. It’s right on the Corso di Vittorio Emanuele. Actually, any church on the Corso is worth popping into. I have yet to find a church in the city of Rome that I have been disappointed by.
Santa Maria sopra Minerva is enormous! It was one of the first churches I visited in Rome and I was absolutely blown away. It is the only original Gothic church in Rome and it is so vast that I literally got lost in there once, only for a few minutes, but that should give you an idea of how large it is. This church holds the tombs of Fra Angelico and St. Catherine of Siena (although her head is in her hometown) among others. There is a Michelangelo up near the altar, Christ The Redeemer holding a cross. It is not usually very busy in this church either, so it is a lovely place to pray the Rosary.
Santa Maria della Vittoria: I only was here for ten minutes one day towards the end of my stay to see my all time favourite work of art, the Ecstasy of Saint Teresa by Gian Lorenzo Bernini who is also my favourite artist ever. This sculpture is the centrepiece of the Cornaro chapel which is to the left of the main altar. It was so lifelike and so sublime and perfectly beautiful.
Santa Maria in Cosmedin is somewhat of a tourist attraction as it is the home of the Mouth of Truth. It is also the home of something far more important; the head of St. Valentine. We got to go there on his feast day (which also happened to be Ash Wednesday) and while there was an enormous line outside, it was for the Mouth of Truth and not for the relic of Rome’s most famous martyr. I do not know much about the church but from the quick glance I took it looked to lean towards a traditional Greek Orthodox style with many beautiful icons and a partial screen before the sanctuary.
Chiesa di San Luigi della Francesi is home to not one but three famous Caravaggios; The Calling of St. Matthew, The Inspiration of St. Matthew, and The Martyrdom of St. Matthew. Scholars over the years have debated which figure represents Matthew in the first painting; I personally have an unshakeable belief that Matthew is the figure bent over the table counting the money. That is him and that is that. Everyone else is wrong.
The Piazza di Spagna is so beautiful! It is home to the Spanish Steps where a part of Roman Holiday was filmed and obviously it is very very popular with tourists and locals alike. It is on the most famous shopping street in Rome, the Via dei Condotti, which is home to stores such as Gucci, Dior, Dolce and Gabbana, Tiffany’s, and Burberry. If you are visiting the Spanish Steps be ready not only to climb many steps and admire the beautiful view, but also to hold your own against relentless sellers of selfie sticks and Pakistanis offering “free” roses.
Piazza Garibaldi on the Janiculum Hill has the best view of the city and the broad wall surrounding the square is the perfect spot for a picnic with friends. After the picnic you can either walk down one side of the hill into Trastevere or down the other side into the area surrounding Vatican City. I like the Janiculum because the first time I went there I looked at the beautiful and eternal city of Rome spread in front of me, and I saw all these fantastic monuments and domes and such and I didn’t know what they all were. The last time I went to the Janiculum I looked again at Rome, and this time I had been under almost every dome and had visited almost every monument. So the Piazza Garibaldi on the Janiculum Hill is a very special place for me.
There is a great flea market in Trastevere, the Porta Portese. You can find basically anything here, from leather jackets to antique bedpans to olive wood crucifixes. Even better, you can barter with the vendors if the price is too high for you. I once bought a good sized leather satchel for 17 euro when the vendor asked for 35!
Every girl who visits Rome brings back a few scarves; I brought back three. It is best to buy these from street vendors rather than from in a shop as, like in the Porta Portese, you can haggle them down several euro. Altogether the three pashminas I got were around 20 euro.
Things I Wish I’d Known About Rome Before Going
I wish I’d known that if you don’t at least make the effort to speak Italian you will be openly mocked and laughed at by locals. I was in Suppli Roma one day ordering pizza and the pizza man gave me a piece with zucchini blossoms instead of plain cheese. I said, “Oh, can I actually have the one with cheese instead of the one with zucchini flowers? Grazie.” The woman next to me turned and said, “What? No Italian? Is it that hard for you to even learn a few words?” She then pointed her finger at me and laughed loudly in the middle of the shop. Now you do not need to learn how to speak the language fluently; just a few words are fine. But I wish I would have known that.
I wish someone had told me that the best place to buy rosaries is in the gift shop of John Lateran! I spent 20 euro on a lovely pearl one in Santa Maria in Cosmedin on Ash Wednesday (worth it, by the way) and a few weeks later went to John Lateran and saw the same one for about 10! Wow!
I wish someone had mentioned that if you have an old smartphone to bring it so you can get service and use maps when you inevitably get lost. Also, then you can text/use WhatsApp on the go. Useful.
I really REALLY wish someone had mentioned the pedlars who are literally EVERYWHERE and who never stop trying to sell you things! The worst ones by far are the black gypsies; Jake and I had an unnerving first encounter in Piazza Navona where one of them gave us a load of bracelets “for free” and then demanded money for his “baby”. When we refused to give him anything he took back his stuff, cursed us out, and left to find a new victim. When you see someone coming towards you with an armful of African elephant bracelets DO NOT make eye contact and keep walking. Something I learned in Rome is that having a strong and impenetrable RBF and being rude can be acceptable at times. There are also the Pakistani vendors who go round shoving selfie sticks in front of you. No thanks, my hands work fine and there are far more beautiful things to photograph in Rome than my own face!
I already knew this but I am putting it in anyway: bring a water bottle!!! Rome is famous for its many fountains and unlike other fountains I have tasted the water from these ones is clear and sweet and has no taste of chlorine or mustiness. It is thirst quenching and is absolutely and without question the best water I have ever tasted. Bring a nice glass bottle so your water will not get a nasty plastic savour after you carrying it about on a warm day.
And so, I think I have said at least a fraction of what needs to be said about Rome. Then again, one can never finish speaking of this marvelous city; I have been away from there for several weeks now and I have my family bored to tears with my incessant chatter of this Rome thing and that. A visit to Rome leaves a mark on the heart that cannot be erased, and it left with me, at least, a yearning to return some day, God willing. But for now I am here and I do not know for sure when I will go back; maybe in a few months, maybe in a few years. And when I do go back, I look forward to beginning again in the Eternal City. Semper incipit!
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