Italians In Love

If there is one major thing I've noticed about Italian culture during my time in Rome, it's that Italian couples seem to be way more in love than American couples.

Everywhere I go in Rome, I see Italian couples holding hands at a trattoria, kissing by a fountain, and even snuggling on the metro! At first I thought it was absolutely adorable, but now I'm wondering....are Italians just way more in love than Americans?

Is it something about their culture? In America, if you walk down a street, it's not unlikely to see a couple arguing. In Italy, it's definitely not uncommon to see a couple making out on a street corner.

Is it just me? Am I just noticing things, or is it true? Are Italian couples more in love than American couples?

For those of you who have been to Italy, what do you think?

The Best Coffee In All Of Roma!

I absolutely love Roma.

Everything about it.

Especially the delicious coffee.

Now, I'm normally a Starbucks girl myself, but they don't have any of that here in Rome! What they have is better...

Their coffee drinking culture is so different from in the states. In the US, I would drive to Starbucks, grab my grande mocha frappuccino and get back in my car and be on my way. Not so, in Rome.

In Rome, take-away coffee is virtually unheard of. Italians order their coffee, and stand at "the bar" and drink their coffee. The cups are usually quite small, but also filling. No venti cups here!

Today, my art history professor took us to what he told us was the best coffee place in Rome. It's near the Pantheon and called Tazzo D'oro. He suggested we all try a "granita di caffe" or an iced coffee. I love iced coffee at home, so I was excited to try this.

Coffee place..Tazzo D'oro

The coffee came in a small plastic cup with what looked like coffee grounds and some whipped cream. I mixed the whipped cream in with the icy coffee and took a sip. It was AMAZING. I've never had anything like it. It was the perfect amount of coffee without feeling too full or gross.

Yum

We all enjoyed our coffee sitting outside the shop chatting.

Much nicer than the drive-through at Starbucks, right?

Festa della Repubblica

Tuesday was a national holiday in Italy.

While many banks and shops were closed, I still had class. My art class headed to the Colosseum area to sketch, but we were greeted with a large military parade.

According to About.com, Festa della Repubblica celebrates the day in 1946 that Italy voted for a republic form of government.

I've never seen so many military persons in one area! It was quite a sight.


The Colosseum was draped with a gigantic Italian flag.


I even caught a glimpse of the Italian president Giorgio Napolitano.

Pentecost at the Pantheon

Angela Nickerson (@aknickerson on Twitter) was kind enough to let me write a guest post for her travel blog Just Go about my experience attending mass at the Pantheon.

Click here to check out my post!

Un Fine Settimana Perfetto

A perfect weekend...

Friday: As I mentioned yesterday, I went to Tivoli with my art history class. On Friday night, pretty much the entire Temple Rome summer program did the Spanish Steps pub crawl. It's definitely a tourist-y thing to do, but it was fun to do once and in a large group of friends. For those who may not know, you pay 20 euro to travel to 3 different bars and a night club and drink for free and then later for cheap, a t-shirt, and pizza. It was also a fun way to meet other people traveling in Rome.

Friends before the pub crawl

Saturday: We have been dying to get to the beach since we got here since it's SO hot in Rome, so yesterday we took the Metro and then a local train to Ostia. It was about a one hour trip and only cost 2 euro to get there and back. We went to the very last stop Columbo, and headed to a beach called Venezia. We paid 10 euro to enter the beach and rent chairs, and relaxed for 4 glorious hours. The sun was shining and the wind was blowing. It was a perfect beach day, and a great way to unwind. While we were at the beach, there was an air show, so planes were flying very low over the ocean and doing all kinds of tricks, including blowing out smoke in the shape and colors of the Italian flag! Very cool.

Ladies laying out on the beach

Crazy Italian flag colored smoke

Saturday night, my roommates and I made pasta and had bread, and relaxed and unwinded. We also booked a trip to Paris for the weekend of June 11-June 14. Very exciting!

Sunday: Today was Pentecost and we went to a special mass at the Pantheon. At the very end, thousands of rose petals were dropped from the dome of the Pantheon. I actually wrote a guest blog post for another travel blogger about this experience, so instead of writing about it here, I'll post the link when she posts my blog.

Rose petals falling on the procession

Me and my rose petals

The 2009 Giro d'Italia (bike race) took place in Rome today, so we watched a bit of that. We wanted to catch a glimpse of Lance Armstrong, but he wasn't starting until 4:30 p.m. and we watched the race around 2:00 p.m.

Later, we wandered around the Spanish Steps and ate gelato. So far my favorite gelato flavors are mint chocolate chip, nutella, limone and banana.

A great weekend in Roma! How was your weekend?

Italian Culture vs. American Culture

There are so many differences between Italian and American culture. Last night, I went to a presentation on campus about culture and social life in Rome. While it was quite humorous, I definitely learned a few things I didn't know before, some good and some not so good...

-Italians love to stare...One of Temple's staff members Gianni explained to us that if an Italian stares at us, and we feel uncomfortable to just stare back. He says that Italians are very curious people.

-There is no such thing as personal space in Italy. I learned how very true this one is today when I took the metro to the Colosseum for class. Gianni mentioned that Italians don't have a privacy bubble like us Americans do. They stand very close to each other and don't mind if they are touching someone else. The Champions League Final took place today, so fans from all over Madrid and Britain came to Roma for the match. The metro was SO crowded...I would argue it was more crowded than the Broad Street line on the day of the Phillies championship parade. We were crammed in with literally no breathing room.

-Bella Figura literally translates to mean beautiful figure, but it means being a beautiful person with a good appearance (not just physically). Gianni explained that Italians don't get drunk in public or eat while they walk because they are trying to keep the perfect appearance.

-Italians don't stop at stop signs! You need to be VERY careful crossing the street at all times.

-It's considered extremely weird here to get any kind of food or drink to-go. Italians like to relax and enjoy their food and drink and then move. It's also weird to get certain types of coffee after 11:00 a.m. here.

-Gianni gave a word of advice to the guys in the room about trying to pick up Italian girls. He said that Italian girls are VERY skeptical of American guys because they are used to Italian guys being very forward with them. He mentioned its best to take it slow and hang out with the girl a few times in a group before going on an actual date. He also said that it's wise for guys to say they are from California or New York City because Italian girls have grown up watching movies and TV shows that take place in those locations.

-This is a serious tip. As I'm sure many of us have heard, Italian men are stereotypically quite forward. Rape doesn't hold up very well in court here. There is an unspoken rule that if you enter an Italian man's apartment, you are giving up the right to say no. In one court case, the court ruled that if a woman is wearing tight jeans, she obviously couldn't have been raped because she would have had to help the man take the pants off. It's really sad, and I think this is one area that the United States might be excelling in.

-Everything is MUCH slower here. It's great. Dinners last three hours, waiters don't bother you to leave. In class, my professors ask if we want to stop for espresso's on the way to our next site visit. It's great. I love the stress-free life.

-My favorite cultural difference: siesta time! At home, I love to take naps and I guess that could be considered lazy, but here, everything shuts down from noon til three and everyone takes a rest. I love it!

Are there any major cultural differences I may have missed that you noticed when traveling in Europe?