The Campo de'Fiori in the Afternoon

When you have some free time in the afternoon, you should take a walk over to the Campo de'Fiori. You will be treated to see a transformation in the Piazza itself. Food vendors from the morning markets begin to break down their stands. Now more tourists are out and the shop vendors know this. Jackets that are ten euros early in the morning are now twelve. But don't worry, if you have luck like my friend and I did, they will have a special discount just for you.

Morning trash piles up while right next to it vendors lay out Prada and Gucci bags that are of course originals. The umbrellas are up in bars that had only served coffee in the mornings. And the scents of the day are out in full force. Walk down the road a little and smell the fresh fish market. There is a good chance you can already start to smell it from the Piazza. On the other hand, walk to the opposite corner of the market and smell the delicious goods Forno's is making today.

No matter what you choose to see in the afternoon, make sure you take the time to sit down and have gelato from one of the many small shops. While this is no Giolitti's, I find I can't refuse a scoop or two myself.

If you have more time, venture down some of the side streets. You will find nice designer clothes right next to discount stores. If you are looking for a relaxing afternoon, this is the place to come.

Music

From my first day in Italy, I have noticed a common trend, Italians listen to a lot of American music. I have heard American songs in stores, commercials, and bars. The funny thing about the bars is that even the Italians get excited when Journey blares over the speakers. They know all the words and are just as happy as the Penn Staters.

To understand this better, I looked at Italy's top music as of right now. Check out the list for yourself, http://top40-charts.com/chart.php?cid=18. While I have not heard of the number one song, Madonna and Justin Timberlake are number two, followed closely by artists like Kanye, OneRepublic, and Sara Barielles. How come Italians prefer our music over their own?

I had not necessarily considered what kind of music I expected to hear here. I only gave it casual thought and considered Frank Sinatra, which in and of itself is amusing because he too was American. As an American, why do I have the right to assume that my music is better? And why are Italians buying it also?

As a comparison, I checked out some of their original top music. If you would like to do so, click on any of these links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbM72JEqfJ8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZBCBDlGE0Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORDWGRlVLJE

Italy's top music is a mix of songs in many languages, a number in English. Could you imagine teens listening to music in Italian in America? Why are Italians picking up our music and we are not doing the same? I try to think about music as being universal, but for an Italian to gain popularity in America, he would have to translate his songs. Why are American artists above this?

Changing an Idea

I chose the topic of wine to focus on n Italian tradition. I have come to find, that I do not think there is enough information to write an enjoyable blog about the sole tradition of wine. While I will continue to inform you of interesting wine experiences I learn about here, I will broaden my focus to include all Italian traditions. From riding Vespas to the ritual of the cafe, I would like to look at the daily happenings in the lives of Italians surrounding me here in Rome.

I would like to start with one of my favorite traditions I have noticed so far. Each day anywhere between two and five in the afternoon, stores and restaurants take siestas. They close down and the shop owners have some time on their own. In the summer this is a good way to avoid the heat. But don't try to go anywhere during this time because shopping becomes limited. A number of gelato shops and bars remain open, but dine in restaurants often take this break. I recently tried to go out to a small restaurant for dinner in Trastevere. They owner was resting at one of his tables and a cook could be seen in the back. But when we asked for a table he said no. He explained that he would be closed another twenty minutes.

Whenever you are out and about, make sure you account for this siesta time! Could you imagine stores in the US closing for a nap break? But once I got accustomed to the routine, I know it is something I will miss back home in the States.

Observations on Wine

When I came to Rome, I expected wine to flow freely. While wine is sold in grocery stores and at restaurants, it is not as inexpensive as I had one thought it would be. Italians generally sell wine by the bottle. While this is good for a couple, this makes drinking wine on your own a more expensive process. Wine does come by the glass, but just like at home, the price is much steeper. On a very strict budget, this makes drinking wine out very difficult.

I have not seen a pattern with wine glasses used by Italians. At home, my mom has her glass for red and a separate kind of glass for white and pretty much everything else in between. I was not sure if this was a world trend, or simply a US one. At one dinner, my group ordered bottles of red wine and bottles of white wine. Each person received the same style glass. Do you think this changes in more expensive restaurants? Maybe I will have to take myself out to dinner and find out.

Some More Nightlife in the Campo

I have spent a few evenings in the Campo de'Fiori now and each time it is always the same. Street vendors, if they deserve that much of a name, always come up to men who are with women and try to sell roses. When our group from the CAS first got here, girls came home with honestly dozens of roses. Where do all of there roses come from? And how many of these roses go to waste? I have heard prices anywhere from a Euro for one to ten Euros for the whole bunch. While it may seem like a romantic gesture to buy your lady friend a rose, don't waste your time or money. Often times when you buy one good, these vendors continue to hassle you by offering lower prices on other goods.

Vendors sell other goods that range from dancing Minnie Mouses (maybe a good topic for a weblog about American products) all the way to light up glasses. While out recently, I saw an American man buy a pair of these glasses for ten Euro. The vendor continued to hassle him to buy other goods and would not leave our group. Once you attract attention, it is hard to lose it. While you may enjoy the little knick-knacks in the beginning of your stay in Rome, you will very quickly find yourself saying, "No, grazie."

History of Wine

It was the Greeks and Etruscans who first brought wine to Italy. They found the land produced excellent results. As the Romans began making their own wine its popularity greatly increased. In the beginning of the Christian era, wine was mixed with honey, spices, or salt water to create a number of different flavors. The Romans produced a wine with much higher alcohol content then we are used to today, so they often diluted it with water. It was the Romans who first stored wine in barrels to help improve its taste. For more information or to see where this information came from, visit http://www.lifeinitaly.com/wines/roman-history.asp.

Throughout my time in Rome, I have come to notice that Romans take their wine very seriously. Wine is often sold by the bottle in restaurants and Italians normally have one glass per meal. In the summer Italians tend to drink different wines. These wines are much lighter and are generally Pinot Grigios, Proseccos, Gavis, and Aneis'. If you would like to know more about these wines before ordering one, check out http://www.lifeinitaly.com/wines/summer-wines.asp.

One of my previous posts was discussed how helpful wine labels can be. If you know what each label is discussing, you will choose the best wine. To further understand these labels review this information http://www.lifeinitaly.com/wines/. Wines are sold based on a number of guidelines. If you are looking for a better wine, try one with a DOCG designation which is stricter than DOC. These designations indicate where the wine comes from, the content of alcohol, and yield of grapes per acre, and a number of other helpful tidbits of information. IGT designated wines are less strict than both DOC and DOCG. However, it is still worthwhile to try tavolo wines, which are not put to the test of these designations because the producers do not want to get involved with the government laws.

Advertising in Roma

Not only are there a number of American products sold in Rome, but there is also a huge amount of advertisement for these goods. I was blown away when I was walking around the Coliseum and saw French students with their Burger King crowns on. While these girls appeared to be middle school age and just looking for some extra attention, they in turn made themselves walking advertisements. In all my journeys around Rome, I have not seen any Italian goods being advertised in this fashion.

If you really keep your eyes open while walking around, you will almost feel like you are at home in the States. Advertisements on buses seem to have an overly American theme to them. The picture below advertises the US film Indiana Jones. One of my nexts steps is to go see an American movie at a local theater. If you would like to do so also, there is a small cinema right over the bridge on the main road in Trastevere. Here they are also advertising for other US movies like Sex and the City. Why are our movies dominating their cinemas, while their films that are sent to the US are dubbed as foreign films and receive one category in awards shows?

The fact that Italians advertise our movies so much scares me a little. These movies contain US actors and are widely known to have come from the States. Since they are American made, it is no wonder Italian men fall over US women for their attention. What movie have you seen recently that does not have a silly, easy American girl getting into some kind of trouble? What movies are we making that are worthwhile or focus on the talent of the actors involved? We are creating movies with hopefully poor depictions of ourselves and then sending them all over the world. With these kinds of messages continually coming from the US, I can only imagine the stereotypes we are creating for ourselves around the world.

I also want to know why this ice cream has to be advertised by Eva Longoria? This ad is for Algida, an ice cream brand under the company Unilever. This is the same comapny that runs Good Humor in the US. Why is it that this company choose a US star to represent its goods in Italy? Unilever is not even a company that started in the US. When companies create a message saying US stars sell more goods, how can anti-American feelings not arise? And how can US citizens come to Rome and not expect people to speak our language? While Eva is pretty, there are a number of pretty Italian women that could have just as easily been used to endorse this solely Italian product.

Vatican City

While not everyone who visits Rome is Catholic, Vatican City and St. Peter's are two places all tourists must take the time to go to. The church is unbelievable due to its massive design and artwork and it would take days to fully appreciate everything inside. But, in my opinion, the best five euros you can spend in Rome is to climb all the way up to the top of the dome in St. Peter's.

While this may sound like an easy feat, it is 550 stairs all the way to the top. During your walk you will travel up tiny spiral staircases without railings and in hallways that curve from the ceiling to the floor at forty-five degree angles. Make sure you are up for the trip before you set out because there is no turning back. But once you get to the top, you will not be sorry.

All of the ceiling artwork in the Cathedral is created by small pieces forming mosaics. I cannot imagine creating such massive scenes piece by piece. It is not until you get to the very top of the dome that you can see the designs broken down into their smaller components. While the picture of the ceiling below is not very clear, you can still make out the scene. It is really something you must see in person to make out its grandeur.

When you get to the top of the dome, you can walk around and view the church from several tens of feet up. Make sure you aren't too scared of heights before you go up! While I was in the dome, mass was going on and it was amazing to hear the acoustics of the old Cathedral.

Once you have finished looking around inside the dome, it is time for some more steps upwards towards the very top. Here, you can walk around outside the top of the dome and get an amazing view of the city. On a clear day, it is possible to see all the way to the mountains surrounding Rome. You can also make out the Capitoline building and many other structures in Rome from this height.
This tour of to the very top of the Cathedral is one everyone should take. And if you get tired, make sure to take a break on in the cafe they have on the roof or buy a souvenir from the gift shop. In all 1100 plus steps were totally worth the view from the top.

It's a learning process

As newcomers to the city, it takes awhile to find the right places to go to for everything from eating throughout the day to relaxing at night. After our first week here, the CAS kids were all ready to have some find and find out where Italians go at night.

The Campo de'Fiori seemed like the place to go. Twenty of us all walked over for a nice dinner out. The meal did not end up being very ideal. I have learned very quickly about where to eat out and what to watch out for. Tourist menus may sound like something you would like, however this means that frozen food has been brought to the restaurants and is then heated up for you to eat. With the number of tourists attending certain spots, it the only way restaurants can keep up. But this food is often over-priced and not very good. Diners beware of popular tourist spots for eating as you will often fall victim to these tourist menus. Stick to smaller restaurants in less popular areas.

The Campo de'Fiori is full of nightlight and after dinner we experienced some of this first hand. The group traveled across the piazza to The Drunken Ship and Sloppy Sam’s. Immediately I knew these places were not where I wanted to be. Creepy old men stared at us while we walked in and Italian women were nowhere to be seen. While I had a good time with the CAS students, these places are not high up on my list to return to. If Italian women do not want to be at these bars then neither do you.

Barilla Anyone?

Well, I got to look like a crazy American today. To see what American products Rome has to offer, I decided to walk around a small grocery store and take some pictures. A majority of the products were Italian made or at least European, but mixed in were American goods. Unlike in the Wegman’s I go to at home, these products did not have their own international section. Instead they were next to similar Italian made products.

Cereal proved to be the most dominated goods made by Americans. Unlike in our grocery stores at home, there were not many sugary cereals; instead corn flakes seemed to be the most popular.

These goods were different than what you would find at home. Sizes were different, names varied, and even some products were made by US companies but aren’t offered in US stores. The only product that seemed to be exactly the same were Ritz crackers. My next step will be to try some of these US goods that aren’t offered in America.

I got extremely excited in the store when I saw Barilla pasta. I patted myself on the back for picking good pasta at home because clearly whatever they sell in Italy is worthwhile pasta.

But then I did a little research on Barilla and found out the reason it is such a good pasta and the reason that it is sold here is because it is an Italian company and did not come to the US until 1996. Before I make any other assumptions about which products are American, I will definitely have to do a little research.

Don't You Wanta Fanta

While American products are everywhere, I wanted to focus on one specific company today and their movement to become a global organization. In 1988, a study was done and found the Coca-Cola Company to be the best known name and trademark in the world. In 1919, the first European bottling plant opened and by 1928, Coke was at the Amsterdam Olympics. I was hoping the company's website would have more information on its globalization, but this was not the case. The history of globalization provided by the company was one success story after another and reinforced the idea of the company's heroes as well as how well their product sales are. To read this for yourself, check out http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/heritage/chronicle_global_business.html or http://heritage.coca-cola.com/.

But how did Coke become popular here? What techniques did the company use to enter a European market and what obstacles did they encounter? Did they have to change their social influence appeals for Europeans? It is interesting to look at the social influences used in this water commercial, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7g9ffBjL1MQ. This commercial could easily be shown in the US, even the background song was made in America.

For just a second, I want to look at Pepsi instead of Coke. Check out these commercials at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxEkGbyNM_Q&feature=related and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEc5foJ9plE&feature=related. While Youtube does not say where these commercials were played, they are in English so they were most likely shown in America. It is interesting to see how Pepsi shows Europeans drinking their product to make Americans also want to do it. While the boys in the togas were most likely American, it still depicts a Roman style toga party. I reviewed these commercials also but Pepsi had to break into the same market as Coke and create an international name for themselves.

Over the next few days, I am going to try to find the questions that today’s blog formed for me.

Becoming a Wine Connoisseur

In my first week in Rome, I have kept my eyes open to events related to wine. So far, I have seen a number of wine bars and even a huge wine forum. I am currently looking more into the event to check out if I can go. If you want to know more about it check out the website, http://www.vinoforum.it/ita/default.asp. And if your Italian skills aren't proficient enough to browse through the information, check out a website translator I found at http://www.freetranslation.com/.

I have also started doing some own wine tasting of my own. As a college student, I have had my fair share of Franzia thanks to its cheap price. But here in Rome the story is much different. Wine is sold in the supermarket which makes one stop shopping even more convenient. But more importantly, wine is very inexpensive. For around 3 euros, I could get 1.5 liters of Fanta or 1.5 liters of wine. While, I am sure this is not the best wine Rome has to offer, it is still a definite step up from Franzia.

So far I have tried a red wine and a pink wine. Currently, I do not enjoy dry wines and have stayed away from white. But as this is a learning experience, I will try one when I buy my next bottle.

The wine bottles are very interesting here and contain different information than at home. For instance, the percent alcohol by volume is listed, as well as the best temperature at which to serve the wine, and which foods to serve with each wine. This information will be very helpful to in learning more about each of the wines I try.

Background on Campo de'Fiori

The best place to start with the Campo de'Fiori is to learn about the history of the piazza. According to the Forno Campo de'Fiori, a bakery in the piazza, this piazza saw its fair share of festivities, but also gore. Executions were once performed in the square. Today, the fountain in the middle is dedicated to this and more specifically to Giordano Bruno. For more information about the bakery or to see their amazing pastries, visit their site at http://www.fornocampodefiori.com/storia.php. This will definitely be my next place to visit in the piazza.

If you want to visit the piazza, check out the map for its exact location: http://www.rome.info/map/. Make sure you look for Via dei Giubbonari because this road opens up to the piazza.

Welcome to Roma!

Although I have already posted a few times, I should probably explain what I am doing here. I am a Penn State student in the Communication Arts and Sciences department. I am lucky enough to study in Rome this summer and learn a little more about rhetoric in tourism, books, and films based on Italy. I am also lucky enough to get to discover everything I can about this city!

As for the blog, there is definitely an underlying theme; however I will also be posting about all the great things I am seeing here. We have to pick out three topics based on Rome. One has to be a place, one is a theme, and the third is either a place or a theme. I wrote my first three posts on my main topics. I will be focusing my blogs on the topics of Italian wine, American products in Rome, and the Campo de'Fiori.


I am very excited to get started with this project and learn all I can about these ideas. If you would like to read other blogs by students doing the same thing, visit this website: http://rhetoricofrome.blogspot.com/

I also plan on throwing in some great pictures I take along the way!

Ciao Bella Roma!

As I walked around the city in the past few days looking for a place to learn more about, the options seemed endless. I am in a city that contains 50% of the world’s artwork and other treasures. How am I going to see all of this and still learn about the city? The only way seems to be to find a place I can call my own.

I looked for a place where I could truly learn about the interactions of Italians. While there are 50 million visitors to Italy each year, there are still 4 million who call Rome their home. What makes these people unique? What do they do during the day and how do they relax? I have quickly learned that piazze are the best places to see this.

When I took an early walk yesterday, I found the Campo de'Fiori. I walked through the market and found my first place with a limited number of tourist shops. There were fruit vendors, others selling flowers, and even raw meat was available. There was confusion in Italian over costs. For the first time, few people knew English and I had to make my way through with some broken Italian. It was thrilling.

I decided to make this my place. I want to sit and watch the interactions of the people at various times of the day. I want to get to know the workers in the bars and find the best gelato there. I plan on getting to know the piazza inside and out. Piazze are an important part of Italian culture and I plan on doing my research to find out how this came about.

Vino!

When I think about all the things that make Rome an appealing city, one of the things on the top of the list is the unbelievable wine. While my young palate is still quite inexperienced, I still noticed the huge difference between the box of Franzia I have sitting back in my apartment at school and the 0.87 Euro boxed wine I tasted today.

While you may laugh at my lack of wine knowledge, I would like to take my time in Rome to explore this. What makes certain wines taste differently? And let me try out on of the few appropriate wine vocab terms I know and ask what makes each bouquet unique?

In writing a blog on the subject of wine, I think it is only fair to try as many different kinds as I can in my few shorts weeks here. Unfortunately, I will have to suffer through this, darn. A trip to Tuscany is in order to visit a fine Italian vineyard. Again, as difficult as this may be, I think I'll be able to squeeze it in. After all, how many times in my life will I legitimately be able to say, "When in Rome?"

And maybe I'll really be able to be wine savvy when this is over.

Would you like to supersize that?

One of the first things I noticed about la bella citta di Roma was the American products. As soon as I arrived in the city, I was disappointed to drive on the right side of the road and to only see signs for American products. But upon closer examination, I noticed that while these products are from US companies, they are not the same. Packaging varies, portions are smaller, and even the products themselves are different.

How do US companies determine how to change their products enough to make them international?

I am also very interested in some anti-American feelings shared among Romans. Does this decrease sales of US goods? Are Italians willing to walk around advertising US products? Do other Italians give them a hard time about it? From the prevalence of US goods I have seen in my first week, I feel like this is not the case. But perhaps we'll have an Italian replica of "freedom fries" on our hands?

And what kind of message are we really sending by making a Disney version of SPQR? But don't worry too much, at least you'll be able to find the golden arches anywhere you go. Including next to the Pantheon.