Wow, I can’t believe how long I’ve been in Rome for! It must be two weeks now! The time is really flying by and I honestly didn’t realise my trip in Rome would be so busy… but I’ve managed to fit in a lot of fun things too… Here’s just a mega quick update about my trip in Rome for you guys!
I briefly mentioned in this week’s Vlog about the crazy opening times in Rome right? How sometimes a place won’t be open on a Sunday, Monday OR Tuesday, depending on how the owners feel! A lot of places a small businesses, and there are many more family run places than you’d find in England. I love this. However, it has caused me a lot of confusion. The other night, a friend and I wanted to go to a nice restaurant we had found that serves the most delicious dish of smoked duck. It’s wonderful stuff, smokey duck flavour on crisp toast and on top of that a good helping of drizzled honey. We had just finished one of our projects together and decided it would be a nice treat to get. It was a Tuesday evening and when we came by the place at 7pm it had it’s shutters down. Now, because a few places are closed on Tuesdays I didn’t think anything of it, and we scoured the surrounding areas for open osterias – before finally ending up in a small but modern one that had amazing cheese. We finished our meal at around 10:30pm and we walked back to the dorms, on our way back though we saw that the duck restaurant was open! Fancy that! A restaurant opening after 7pm on a Tuesday night!
We laughed about it, but it’s simply one of the culture differences that I’m getting usedBto. I had to send a fax to an internet company, since the internet at the dorms are very slow, I wanted to upgrade for myself (uploading videos takes a lot of internet!) – however an internet company here doesn’t take email! That makes no sense to me! Instead, I have to fax all the information!!! Also, I bet you don’t know which shop I had to go in to fax the papers… not a print shop or a computer shop – it was a tobacconist! Everyone in Italy smokes it seems, it’s still legal to smoke outdoors at a restaurant, something that has been banned in England for a while (with the exception of pubs) and I’ve seen people smoke indoors at some bars and clubs. Tobacconists in Italy are open just as late as convenience stores are open in England, and they are often paired with selling lottery tickets as well as scratch cards. They often have a small range of sweets and some even do faxing. Smoking is so popular in Rome in fact, that some restaurants or cafes simply have a shelf of cigarettes to sell behind the till.
But as much fun as I am finding Rome, as busy as the course is keeping me, and all the new people I’m meeting, a part of me really misses home. I’ve been on holidays before, but this isn’t so much a holiday since I’m doing work. I think this might in fact be one of the first times I’ve ever felt homesick. I miss my bed, and my room and my plushies. I miss cooking instant noodles at 2 am or ordering Pizza with you all on cam. I fear that since pizza is so good in Italy I may never order it again in England. I also miss my little sister a lot, and I miss speaking english constantly. I really should learn Italian.
I’m going to be coming back home soon, and I bet I’ll be dying to make another trip in Rome as soon as I can, but for now I’m going to be thinking about english grub, and London weather! Of course, you guys can check out the rest of my Italian adventures by following me on twitter!