home sweet Roma

Diakuyu to everyone for the birthday wishes! Every single "mnohaya lita!" made me smile and miss everyone even more! I love you all.

Caroline and I went to London to celebrate my 21st birthday and to visit our ND friends who are studying in London. I'll update on that one later- it was lots of fun and so, so nice to see some familiar faces and some of my best friends.. who I hadn't seen in 6 months! London is a great city, too. But coming back to Roma... that is the point of this post.

I always feel it, but I felt it most strongly this weekend. Traveling and discovering new cities is glorious and I always love it. All of our travels so far have been so different but incredible. Visiting towns and regions within Italia is awesome because even though the regional differences are so pronounced, there are always uniting factors/common themes/threads linking foods/customs/the language. Going international, you lose some of those things and the trips become more defined from one another- the vibe I got from Svizzera was that the Swiss are efficient, economical, practical, sleek, refined, and happen to live in one of the most gorgeous places in the world. In Paris I felt like the French were very refined, somewhat snooty, all about appreciating food and beauty, sophisticated, and just COOL by nature. The Germans are really fun. They are incredibly friendly, hospitable, enjoy life, love children, love their bier, and are very youth-oriented. They seem the happiest. London is so modern. I feel like they're not stuck in any past-- I did spend only 36 hours there, but it seemed the most "western" to me. Almost American in feel, maybe a little more quaint and European (duh, I know- but that's the only way to describe it haha). ANYWAY. Italiani.

Whenever I come back to Roma, I always call it home. And it's quirky- it's wild, totally full of attitude, a little dirty, loud, Eurotrashy, crazy, unpredictable, and old. It's layered with history and with italiani who think the world revolves around them. It's dramatic and always a spectacle. It always makes me laugh-- you can be walking around on any average day and see 10 things that will make you kind of laugh and say, "oh ROME.." you're ridic. But I've come to love this city so much, to appreciate it for what it is. I've gotten past that initial fantasy Roma that most guidebooks try to sell.. that of raven-haired people, cyprus trees, sunsets, pasta, romantic strolls along peaceful cobblestoned sidewalks, strolling violinists, and Lizzie McGuire Movie-esque adventures with hot Italian ragazzi on motorini. Italia is sexy. It's sultry. It's hectic, probably overtouristed, way too dramatic sometimes, random as hell with its public transportation strikes and protests.. but so, so endearing. People here love to be Italian. Everything is a spectacle and italiani take the time to live. Four-hour lunch breaks during which businessmen, students, and shopkeepers alike stroll along the cobblestone streets at the slowest pace IMAGINABLE-- hardly walking, mostly just casually putting one foot in front of the other gradually as they have conversations with their colleagues. Sloooowww walks late at night. Shoes and sunglasses, scarves and tight jeans. Where the Parisians enjoy their food, where the Germans love their children, where the Swiss have their clean efficiency, the Romans know how to hang out. They hang out in their gorgeous city and exude a kind of confidence I haven't found anywhere. They are the greatest, they are the chicest, they are so very fabulously Italian. With every cigarette puff, with every sisisisisisi, with every last stream of rapidfire music-language, and with every single cIAooo I fall way more in love with bella Roma.