Journal 4

Throughout the two weeks in Rome, I have been to the Campo dei Fiori several times. It is a popular open space in Rome and we passed through it in order to get to other places. The Campo is home to Forno, which is said by Jackie to have the best to go pizza in all of Rome. When we went in for the first time I was surprised that they had to go pizza because I pictured having pizza to go in Italy was a sin. The store was small and cramped. The style of pizza was different than I was used to back home. I was also caught off guard when the pizza man chopped off a slice of pizza as if it were piece of meat. That was definitely new. Continuing around the campo during the day, I wandered around the markets.

The markets are only open during the day. I’m not sure when they set up but I would imagine its sometime early in the morning. They appear to close around 5pm or so. I looked at one station that was selling pasta and small bottles of different kinds of alcohol. I was intrigued by the pasta and considered getting my mom a package of pasta. I then thought to myself, “My mom wouldn’t know how to cook them the Italian way.” I moved to the next station witch sold touristy clothing. I didn’t like anything I saw, mostly because none of it felt authentically roman or Italian for that matter.

I then found myself in an awkward haggling situation. I saw a hat at a hat stand that I liked. I tried it on just to see and I liked it but I’m not really a hat person so I put it down. The vendor then came to me and let me try another one and told me I looked great. I was flattered but, not falling for his trap. I have been to Turkey so I have experience with vendors. He offered me the hat for 20 euro, and I said no thank you. He dropped the price to 15. I still said no because I honestly didn’t want the hat. Eventually he said ten, and said no thank you and walked away. I felt awkward but proud because I normally like a good bargain.

I quickly got bored of the markets as they mostly appeal to women. So I decided to go up one of the streets to find a clothing store for men. Of course most of them were stores that sold suits. I found a couple regular clothing store, but they were way to expensive for my taste. None of them were of any name brand I have seen in the states, which confused me. Either way I did notice that all the stores seem to have an abundance of shirts in my size, which is usually not the case in the states.

The campo at night is almost a different place. At night all the markets clear out leaving a largely open spaced. The space is surrounded by mostly restaurants, and bars. They become paced with people at night, as Italians eat their dinner and others begin their nightlife activities. Groups of people crowd the statue near Forno. It really is a nice place to spend a night hanging out. My favorite bar I saw there was called Sloppy Sam’s. Its motto: “Classy in the front, Sloppy in the back!”