la dolce vita

(the sweet life)

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A lazy, late summer afternoon in Piazza Navona. Hard to imagine the same scene in Macclesfield or Pittsburgh.
You may still find La Dolce Vita in Rome, perhaps not as sophisticated as it once was, but just as seductive.

We’re finally going to use the phrase ‘La Dolce Vita’ here at Romebuddy. We’ve used it sparingly because it is such a lovely expression, and should not be blatantly overused or cheapened. But Rome is the home of La Dolce Vita, and while the city is a shadow of what it was in the fifties and early sixties, it still lives up well to it’s decadently romantic reputation.
We're not going to go into some lengthy primer or listing of nightclubs in Rome on this page. If you're looking for that kind of action you'll find it soon enough once you hit Rome. But what we do want to do here is just mention a few of the things which make Rome so dreamy and delightful in itself; the way one can just drift round this city on a summer evening and take in all the beauty and magic of the place for free or for the picking, like fruit hanging off the trees in a mediterranean orchard.

the romance

Rome is the place to fall in love. To stand on one of its bridges on a warm summer night, gazing at the floodlit city vista and listening to the crickets singing, one can easily lapse into spouting some Shakespeare sonnet on the joys of Mediterranean romance. But what will probably strike the English visitor most is the tremendous outward display of love and affection by the Romans. We’re not just talking about romantic love here, but also friendship and family ties. Quite apart from the mandatory social kissing at every hello and goodbye, there are so many more gestures of amore on show in Rome, both platonic and romantic. Young teenage girls will rest their heads on each other’s shoulders, and even girlfriends in their twenties will hold hands or go even arm in arm in the street. Brother and sister will embrace, young men will flirt with baby girls, mothers will shower their grown up sons with hugs and kisses, and all this in the street, in the bar, in the shops, anytime, anywhere in fact. Lovers kiss and exchange gifts on the train.
British romance tends to be claustrophobically dull and physical by comparison, for England’s foul, wet, chilly weather drives lovers indoors on most evenings of the year, with nothing but the TV and the bed to cement the relationship. British lovers embrace each other under the bed-covers simply to try and keep warm than for any other reason! In contrast, Italy’s golden warm weather and easy-come easy-go life of bars and scooters allows Rome’s lovers to spend countless evenings drifting happily through its winding streets and piazzas, sharing discoveries and adventures together or in groups of friends and family. Romances are thus more relaxed and fuelled by more platonic pursuits than in England, allowing serious relationships more time to develop into something deeper and more meaningful. Whilst it is true that Italian society is highly sexually charged, with much macho posturing from young hetero studs congregating outside the bars, and beautiful pouting girls with perfect figures poured into skin-tight dresses drifting like sirens among the fountains, all casting provocative glances back and forth between each other , it is all somehow peculiarly mixed up with traditional if now hypocritical family values - girls love their boyfriends only slightly more than they love their brothers, and boys love their girlfriends slightly less than they love their mothers. As in all great cities, there is of course an exciting singles scene for short-term visitors who enjoy action and variety, but long term visitors to Rome searching for true love will find it the most delightful setting in the world for the gentle flowering of a deep and dream-like romance.

Trastevere

is the old residential area of Rome, until recently the habitation of working class families who had lived there for centuries. Since the war however, Trastevere has come further and further up-market until it is now almost exclusively the neighbourhood of successful artists, intellectuals and professional trendies. In a move comparable to the development of the London Docklands in the eighties, the last few old locals whose leases had expired were forcibly evicted from these million dollar properties in Trastevere five years ago, though just a handful of retired shoe-menders and washer-women still survive in their old damp basements underneath the dentists and record company executives. That’s enough politics for now - Let’s switch to the aesthetic review of Trastevere - It’s absolutely charming!

Cross the river on foot on any bridge near the equally haunting and mysterious island, ‘Isola Tiberna’, and you’ll be in Trastevere - step into the cool shade of the nearest street and you’ll step back three or four hundred years. Anybody who’s ever visited The Shambles in York and was bitterly dissappointed to discover that it was only one street of plebby nouveau-riche tea-cosy shops will not be similarly disappointed by Trastevere. Trastevere is the real thing! Endless winding cobbled streets, tiny little bars of exquisite intimacy, and washing hanging out between the shuttered windows high overhead. Red ochre and burnt sienna wash paint peeling from ivy infested stone walls, trickling drinking fountains set back into dark carved crevices, while the smells of rich espresso coffee, freshly baked ciabatta and sun-ripened dog turds waft through the air. There is also an enticing collection of little antique shops and jewellers sprinkled throughout these magical streets, together with the occasional artist or sculptor’s studio. If you’re gonna get lost anywhere in Rome, then get lost in Trastevere. You’ll never want to find your way home again…