With multitude of websites, maps and research you have finalised your trip to Rome. With much excitement are you waiting the days of the Tiber breeze, the tours through the historic centres, picturing yourself lost in the new city.
But you are still a traveller there. With much anticipation and apprehension, you have learnt the important Italian words. With warm, welcoming people all around, you are about to plunge in a city known for its chaos; chaos in the mingling of lives, history, architecture, music and colours.
And in this chaos, the locals go about their lives. The wanderlust in you always calls for seeping into the life of the place you go to, for just visiting is never enough. Today we would like to tip you on how to spend time like the locals in Rome.
The hub of locals is Trastevere.
Yes, all the winding lanes of Rome come to meet here. On the west bank of the Tiber, this is where all colours and lives meet every day. To enter into the local realm of any place, we all need to observe the locals from a distance first. Here you get a cross section of all kinds of people who live there. From fighting over the famous derby (Lazio vs Roma), to chilling with a beer in hand, strike up a conversation with a few Italian phrases and you’re set! Let yourself flow in their warmth, beautiful little tales of historic spaces only the locals know, and if lucky get invited to their homes. That’s the best part!
If you’re chatty, impress them to invite you and experience the local Rome.
The localities in Rome have traces of the old world you search everywhere. Getting invited there is a chance to see the local Roman life up close. Befriending and living with the locals is a wonderful chance to witness how Italians go about the banality, the regular routine of life, knowing life the Italian way.
The best part of Italian life: The food.
From cacio e pepe (cheddar and pepper pasta) to coda alla vaccinara (oxtail stew), customary Roman food remains a staple of the city’s eateries. Local people still flock family-run trattories seeking a carbonara like their grandma used to make. Nowadays, however, Rome’s eateries gloat more than cucina romana.
An array of eateries have brought Rome’s traditional cooking to the fore, including All’Oro, which reopened close to Piazza del Popolo in January, and Il Pagliaccio. Traditional cuisines meet constant evolution in the hands of the Italian chefs, making way to delightful recipes no one knows of. Rome’s exemplary food is as yet going solid — best picks are Ristorante Matricianella and Armando al Pantheon in Centro Storico.
Drinking to history, to life that goes on, and lives that reside together.
Local people remember Castel Sant’Angelo in lovely days or nighttimes as an incredible place to unwind with an espresso or mixed drink with a superb vantage point over the city with the constant breeze of the Tiber. There is a lot of shade from the mid-year sun and safe house from the breeze, if necessary, as you cuddle underneath the tall towers.
