Others Talking About Rome: Civilisation, Innovation, Experience
Here are a few assorted links which you may enjoy if you are interested in Rome: … Continue Reading
I found that working in a holiday rental agency was a fantastic way to get to know Italy and the local culture. My account from behind the scenes reveals what goes on behind closed doors, tells you what you need to know about the agency before you book your holiday …
Last week, the entire financial problems in Testaccio were solved in less than 10 minutes. There was widespread debt and no money in community, until the visit of an American Tourist. Here’s what happened.
Why should you support the use of cash in Italy? Does that not mean that you are facilitating tax evasion? Not necessarily. Instead, overusing your credit card in Italy means to undermine their social fabric, and might hurt the local economy and culture. Here is why.
One of the things you don’t realize about Rome until you’ve left is the city’s (and the country’s) great tradition of pasticcerie.
Here are a few assorted links which you may enjoy if you are interested in Rome: … Continue Reading
This is quite exciting news. Following recent restauration, the Colosseum’s underground dungeons will open to the public for the first time this week, giving visitors access to the chambers where gladiators once prepared for battle, and wild animals were caged before being transported by lifts up to the central fighting arena. … Continue Reading
In Rome, understandably, the focus is more on preservation than innovation, at least what concerns the physical components of the city. It isn’t just the buildings, however, but traditions in terms of food and art are being upheld in various ways, so that it is rather difficult to find a restaurant serving nouvelle italian cuisine. This may be changing: Innovation is slowly becoming more visible, having been an undercurrent for many years. … Continue Reading
“Italy is losing its best and brightest to a decade of economic stagnation, a frozen labor market and an entrenched system of patronage and nepotism. For many of the country’s most talented and educated, the land of opportunity is anywhere but home.”
A new Time Magazine article is looking at how Italy’s young are leaving their country for better opportunities abroad. … Continue Reading
I found that working in a holiday rental agency was a fantastic way to get to know Italy and the local culture. My account from behind the scenes reveals what goes on behind closed doors, tells you what you need to know about the agency before you book your holiday apartment, and explains how the apartment owners can make the crucial difference between an ok agency and a great one. … Continue Reading
After our summer break, I thought I’d take a few moments to go into a little bit of depth about what drives my writing for the The Rome Journal. At its core, The Rome Journal is about providing an understanding of Rome and its culture and society, at practical and philosophical levels. However, each of our contributors has their own set of interests and beliefs, which shape not only the perspective from which their articles are written, but also the topics they choose to address. … Continue Reading
It has been a long, thorougly enjoyed holiday! And finally, the bunch of bloggers behind The Rome Journal are ready for some action again. In fact, we have been quite busy over the past week or so, preparing new articles, and reading about stuff that is happening in, around, and in relation to Italy. … Continue Reading
People make a lot of fuss about this city, and Rome is sometimes still referred to as “Eternal City”, or “Caput Mundi” – latin for capital of the world. But does its ancient role as former centre of the Roman empire merit such attention? Is Rome only a relique, visited by kindly disposed people who see greatness in its ancient remains, gracefully overlooking its considerable flaws? Or is it still, today, a capital worthy of ranking among the great cities of the world? … Continue Reading
Nowadays, the term “Cucina Romana” is readily employed to categorise a variety of recipes, sometimes a little too quickly. Here is a quick overview of the history of Rome’s cuisine, exemplified by the allegedly Roman recipe “saltimbocca alla Romana”. … Continue Reading
Strange things happen when you are a foreigner. Even when you believe that you know the adopted culture and people well, some situations may leave you very surprised. In the following, I recount a strange experience which still has me a bit baffled, upset and ashamed, and which brought together two different cultural assumptions … Continue Reading
Blogging and Bloggers are a problem to authoritarian control. But they are not a problem for truth and a better society.
Obama, Berlusconi, US Federal Reserve. Take some notes.
One of the things you don’t realize about Rome until you’ve left is the city’s (and the country’s) great tradition of pasticcerie. … Continue Reading
Monti has always held a distinctive charm to me, especially when it comes to the food offered in restaurants, the art galleries and quirky stores. There is an dynamic, alternative, future-oriented feel to Monti.
Now, Katie Parla has written an article for the New York Times which describes a number of restaurants that specialise in hyper-localised food, only from the Lazio region. Lazio’s location right next to Tuscany may have been problematic – who, pray, can compete with Tuscany’s reputation? – but it could be argued that Lazio is working extra hard to position their products relative to their famous neighbor, and can therefore not afford to compromise on quality. … Continue Reading
Do not underrate this delicious Roman specialty. To do so will be at your peril. Pizza bianca – the warm, crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside, ‘white pizza’ (although not a white pizza at all) makes up an essential part of the Roman diet. Some translate it as ‘flat bread,’ although no other flatbread I’ve ever had tasted like this. … Continue Reading
It was something that we used to say with a sigh, on a Sunday stroll through the centre: If only it was bicycle friendly, and if only cars were banned from the historic parts of Rome. As far-fetched as it may have sounded even a couple of years ago, the local government pledged this March to transform the Italian capital into a cyclist’s utopia by 2020. … Continue Reading
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