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Fodor's Exploring Guides are the most up-to-date, full-color guidebooks available. Covering destinations around the world, these guides are loaded with photos, essays on culture and history, descriptions of sights, and practical information. Full-color photos make these great guides to buy if you're still planning your itinerary (let the photos help you choose!) and they are perfect companions to general guidebooks, like Fodor's Gold Guides.
What to See Extraordinary coverage of history and culture
Itineraries, walks and excursions, on and off the beaten path
Architecture and art
Where to Stay Quick tips in every price range
Where to Eat Savvy picks for all budgets
The Basics Getting there and getting around
When to go & what to pack
Rome Is ...Agony and Ecstasy
We expect a lot of Rome -- seat of the empire, mother of civilization, caput mundi -- the head of the world. It is the city of the Caesars, of romance, the city of
la dolce vita, of languorous sunny days, the city of endless galleries of art, of churches and museums, of fountain-splashed piazzas, and of majestic monuments to its golden age of empire.
Under Pressure
Like many urban dwellers, Rome's inhabitants have to battle to survive. The prospect of work continually draws people from the surrounding area, southern Italy and developing countries to the city, and its resources have become severely overstreched. As Rome explodes, the problems faced -- unemployment, housing, traffic, and drugs -- have brought even greater pressures for its beleaguered citizens. Romans not only have to deal with too many other Romans, but with a flood tide of tourists. For visitors this sometimes results in a gruff response bordering on rudeness (though a smile and a little stuttered Italian may well bring you courtesy). Some Romans excel in the art of
nonmifreghismo -- of "not giving a damn," an oft heard piece of slang (
non mi frega).
Quintessential Romans
A handful of wonderful Felliniesque survivors can still be found, harking back to a time when Rome was a city of 500,000 people -- a city whose facilities matched its needs. Think, in particular, of beaming restaurateurs enticing you into their old-fashioned trattorias, the nimble-fingered barman making your breakfast cappuccino, the no-nonsense market traders in the Campo de' Fiori, elegant women walking their small dogs in the Villa Borghese, or the immaculately dressed, noble-featured aristocrats returning from their tailors on Via Condotti.
Rome Is ...La Dolce Vita
For a few heady months Rome was to the 1950s what "swinging London" was to the 1960s -- the world's trendsetter, a place inhabited by sunglassed Latin Lotharios and pouting, lean-limbed starlets. Convertible sports cars flashed down Via Veneto, and people partied late into Rome's long, lethargic summer nights. Fellini caught it all in
La Dolce Vita, and the myth was secured.
The Reality
What really happened, however, was less important than what appeared to happen. Perhaps a few gilded individuals played the part, or perhaps Romans did have the knack of the soft, sweet, easy life. Times were good, the sun shone, and Italians had Fellini's movie ended in disillusionment, the waters of the Trevi Fountain failing as the stars met for their famous embrace. Behind them the lights went off to underline the shallow futility of it all. Mastroianni is left high and dry, and the statuesque Anita Ekberg takes her plunging neckline elsewhere.
Lingering Memories
But if the reality was hollow, the images of the era have lived on in the popular imagination. Modern visitors may be disappointed by the Via Veneto's old stomping grounds, and would-be bathers in the Trevi Fountain face prompt arrest, but they still look for and find hints of the old days. They exist because Rome has always been made for the easy life. The sun shines, the settings are romantic, the evenings are long, and Romans, on the whole, are good-looking people who like to see and be seen. Take a table at the Bar della Pace or walk down Via Condotti's parade of exclusive stores for proof that the
dolce vita is still alive and well.
