Confession: I don't actually live in Rome. I visit often, but I get around on my brother's motorcycle and avoid ATAC like the plague — so I'd long since filed Metro C under "never-ending project" and stopped checking. Genuinely hadn't noticed it now reaches Colosseo. Marco from Pigneto is a luckier man than I gave him credit for, and I'll update the piece (Piazza del Popolo tree included).
To the San Paolo neighbor: loved your list. For what it's worth, my characters are all drawn from real people I've crossed paths with — but clearly my Rome is narrower than yours. Grazie!
Metro C really IS a never-ending project. It's supposed to reach the Farnesina, eventually, but that's scheduled for 2036, which probably means 2039 or something like that. Far enough out that the year sounds like something out of science fiction. But it is making slow progress. Next stop: Piazza Venezia (check back in 2032!).
I enjoyed your characters! They all feel like real people who probably wouldn't cross paths with each other.
This was a fun read. I feel like a sort of know a couple of these people.
I'm not the American in Trastevere, but the rare American in Quartiere San Paolo. I still don't fit into any of the categories, but I wonder where my Roman neighbors would fit: a cop, a medico di base, a swim coach, a university researcher, an art historian, a gelato maker, a lawyer, a retired ATAC driver. I really love the diversity of the neighborhood.
P.S. Your geography is a little out of date. As Gillian mentioned, Marco is lucky in that the Metro C now runs to the Colosseo. And the Christmas tree hasn't been at Piazza Venezia since 2022. After that, the continued work on Metro C made it impossible. These days it's in Piazza del Popolo, on the opposite end of via del Corso.
Great article! I’m on public transit almost every day and make the best of it, but I can see why some people become very neighborhood centric. As others pointed out, metro C now runs directly to Colosseo (since last December). Hopefully that makes the guy in Pigneto’s commute so much better. :)
Such a great post. 40 years ago, in love with a Roman girl living on Tiburtina, I got to experience a different Rome. Different from the Rome I visited the first time around. Thank you for bringing the diversity of this great city to life.
All could be true, but then the same dynamics could be true of many sprawling places, hardly just Rome. Growing up in Queens, my friends and I would say we were "going to the city" when we meant Manhattan. I know folks who were born, raised and educated in one section of Queens, married there, settled there and work there. As the saying goes: tutto il mondo e' paese. And many Italians when they come to NY for vacation never wander much beyond midtown Manhattan, let alone explore, say, Queens, one of the most ethnically, linguistically and gastronomically diverse places on Earth! And just a few subway stops away. Tutto il mondo e' paese. But tourism trends might chip away a bit at this dynamic. Take Prati (only because you open with it). Many a tourist now stays in a short-term apartment rental -- legally rented or not. Said tourists could spend days at the Vatican Museums, St. Peter's, Castel Sant'Angelo and shop to their heart's delight on Cola di Rienzo (like the Romans do) and frequent some very inviting cafes and fine restaurants, and experience a Rome neighborhood for a good chunk of their holiday, which barely would take them to the Centro Storico across the Tiber. A question: if Antonio works near Piazza Re di Roma, why is he taking the 81 to Piazza Venezia?
Great great post! I love Casal Paloco💋 it is where I stay each time I come to Italia, I stay with my friend Daniela, walk two blocks to the bus station then to EUR…the streets here full of these very different Pine trees that I have never seen anywhere else, where I take happy walks with my Italian love Gennaro💕 this area is very close to Ostia and the sea…life is a perfect dream here..
A really great read. I lived in Monteverde Vecchio but nearly all of my friends were in Monti or San Lorenzo. It was tough! I had the tram to get me to Largo Argentina, or a bus to Pyramide, so it was mostly me doing the moving. I got really good at ATAC though!
Thanks all for reading — and for the corrections!
Confession: I don't actually live in Rome. I visit often, but I get around on my brother's motorcycle and avoid ATAC like the plague — so I'd long since filed Metro C under "never-ending project" and stopped checking. Genuinely hadn't noticed it now reaches Colosseo. Marco from Pigneto is a luckier man than I gave him credit for, and I'll update the piece (Piazza del Popolo tree included).
To the San Paolo neighbor: loved your list. For what it's worth, my characters are all drawn from real people I've crossed paths with — but clearly my Rome is narrower than yours. Grazie!
Metro C really IS a never-ending project. It's supposed to reach the Farnesina, eventually, but that's scheduled for 2036, which probably means 2039 or something like that. Far enough out that the year sounds like something out of science fiction. But it is making slow progress. Next stop: Piazza Venezia (check back in 2032!).
I enjoyed your characters! They all feel like real people who probably wouldn't cross paths with each other.
This was a fun read. I feel like a sort of know a couple of these people.
I'm not the American in Trastevere, but the rare American in Quartiere San Paolo. I still don't fit into any of the categories, but I wonder where my Roman neighbors would fit: a cop, a medico di base, a swim coach, a university researcher, an art historian, a gelato maker, a lawyer, a retired ATAC driver. I really love the diversity of the neighborhood.
P.S. Your geography is a little out of date. As Gillian mentioned, Marco is lucky in that the Metro C now runs to the Colosseo. And the Christmas tree hasn't been at Piazza Venezia since 2022. After that, the continued work on Metro C made it impossible. These days it's in Piazza del Popolo, on the opposite end of via del Corso.
Now you can get from Malatesta to Colosseo in 10 minutes! 🙏🚊
Great article! I’m on public transit almost every day and make the best of it, but I can see why some people become very neighborhood centric. As others pointed out, metro C now runs directly to Colosseo (since last December). Hopefully that makes the guy in Pigneto’s commute so much better. :)
Such a great post. 40 years ago, in love with a Roman girl living on Tiburtina, I got to experience a different Rome. Different from the Rome I visited the first time around. Thank you for bringing the diversity of this great city to life.
All could be true, but then the same dynamics could be true of many sprawling places, hardly just Rome. Growing up in Queens, my friends and I would say we were "going to the city" when we meant Manhattan. I know folks who were born, raised and educated in one section of Queens, married there, settled there and work there. As the saying goes: tutto il mondo e' paese. And many Italians when they come to NY for vacation never wander much beyond midtown Manhattan, let alone explore, say, Queens, one of the most ethnically, linguistically and gastronomically diverse places on Earth! And just a few subway stops away. Tutto il mondo e' paese. But tourism trends might chip away a bit at this dynamic. Take Prati (only because you open with it). Many a tourist now stays in a short-term apartment rental -- legally rented or not. Said tourists could spend days at the Vatican Museums, St. Peter's, Castel Sant'Angelo and shop to their heart's delight on Cola di Rienzo (like the Romans do) and frequent some very inviting cafes and fine restaurants, and experience a Rome neighborhood for a good chunk of their holiday, which barely would take them to the Centro Storico across the Tiber. A question: if Antonio works near Piazza Re di Roma, why is he taking the 81 to Piazza Venezia?
Great great post! I love Casal Paloco💋 it is where I stay each time I come to Italia, I stay with my friend Daniela, walk two blocks to the bus station then to EUR…the streets here full of these very different Pine trees that I have never seen anywhere else, where I take happy walks with my Italian love Gennaro💕 this area is very close to Ostia and the sea…life is a perfect dream here..
Great read! Thank you!
A really great read. I lived in Monteverde Vecchio but nearly all of my friends were in Monti or San Lorenzo. It was tough! I had the tram to get me to Largo Argentina, or a bus to Pyramide, so it was mostly me doing the moving. I got really good at ATAC though!