Night Lights, Rome

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Piazza Trillusa is in Trastevere, and it is one of the main spots from Romans and expats to meet at night, although it has been discovered by some intrepid tourists as well. This piazza acts as the entrance to Trastevere, where there are many places to eat and bars to grab a drink in. Many young Italians just stroll from place to place, and walking in the narrow cobblestone streets acts as an activity in and of itself (in between drinks, of course). If you are facing the piazza with the river behind you, there is an authentic and cheap pizza restaurant on the left corner called La Margherita. The Diavolo is my favorite. Also, if you look up on the left above a stone wall there is a bar/club that is very popular with Romans. And, as you walk from the Piazza toward Santa Maria in Trastevere, there will be a market of sorts selling jewelry and other handmade crafts. There is a wine bar called Baccanale that is good in Trastevere. Off of Santa Maria in Trastevere, ther is a bar (I forget the name), but it has a white awning and looks slightly seedy. But, if you go in and ask for a "scropino" you will pay 2.60 for a tall glass of vodka mixed with lemon sorbet. In general, this is a great place to walk around at night to eat, drink, and people watch.

Dress Code: No dress code exactly, but Italians ALWAYS look nice when they go out. Stick with black and you will be fine. If you wear jeans, you will definitely mark yourself as a tourist.

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Campo di Fiori is a piazza lined with bars, and is a very popular place at night for grabbing a drink. There is a trick, however, as this spot is anything but secret. When I was living there, I was warned by Italians and non-American expats alike where the bars were to avoid, because the Americans took them over. One of them is here in Campo, and it is called The Drunken Ship. If you want to find some Americans to party with, this is the place. But if you want to go where the locals go, try some of the other enotecas in the piazza. If you are facing The Drunken Ship, to the left there are 2 enotecas side by side. The second one is very cheap, comparatively. You have to look close to see that these two are seperate. But once you have your drink, everyone tends to hang out outside, to socialize and people-watch.

Dress Code: As always, looking nice is better, but not required.

This plaza is a good place to go any night of the week. There are always people talking and drinking in the plaza, or in one of the bars/clubs that line the plaza.

We were hanging out at a bar there called "Sloppy Sams". But as soon as you go to that plaza, they will probably be handing you flyers from different places, you can take your pick. Sloppy Sam's has a website, but it is not working right now. According to their flyer, Sloppy Sams is open 365 days per yr. Happy Hr is 4-8 pm Mon-Fri.

Dress Code: People dress casual.

While debating what to do on our last night in Italy, we found a poster saying that Live Aid, a free concert, was going on here in Rome. Unfortunately, the metro had just stopped running and the concert was about a 25 minute brisk walk. Being bored, we decided to go anyway. When we got there we pushed our way through the crowd, inadvertantly stepping on people, just in time to hear Beck singing the end of "Where its at" and then walk off the stage. Great, we just walked all that way to hear 10 sec of music. Then we found out that Duran Duran was still going to play. Now I'm not a huge fan of Duran Duran, but apparently Italians are. The crowd of mostly teenagers went crazy for the 1980's band. I had no idea that these guys were still touring, but evidently they still have a huge following in Italy. This is something I never expected to do while in Europe, but I guess its the unexpected things you do when you travel that you end up remembering forever.

Dress Code: Jeans/casual

Rome at night is so beautiful iluminated with big lights. We did not spent time on nightclubs. We prefered to walk around monuments and museums and sight was wonderful.

Roma de noche es preciosa iluminada por todas partes. No fuimos de bares y discotecas, preferimos pasear cerca de los monumentos y museos y la vista era maravillosa.

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The Trevi Fountain is a great view anyway but especially pretty when it is lit up in the evening. It is a lot less crowded at night and because there are less people walking around you can sit and enjoy the view.

***BEWARE***

Their is a team of men trying to sell you scarves, camera tripods, snowglobes, umbrellas and all kind of useless garbage. They seemed to be alot more agressive in the evening because they was less people and the same guy would come up to us 3 or 4 times trying to sell us the same thing he offered us 10 minutes before. It was annoying especially because they seem to congregate at the fountain, we found the best way to deal with them was not to make eye contact and completely ignore them which seemed to get rid of them the quickest. They also try to give woman roses while "You take you take, I give for free", but do not take the roses because as soon as you do they try getting money from your partner.

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After a filling meal we went for long walks, part to walk off all the delicious pasta we had just eaten, andpart to see more of this magical city.

It is amazing how a city changes at night. Where some cities become seedy and you might feel unsafe in them, in Rome you feel anything but! We walked all over the place, and had no incidences at all. The worst incident we had was the diner next to us in one restaurant walking out on his meal because it too 45 minutes for the restaurant to cook his steak! haha I doubt I would've waited that long to be honest... his friends had long finished eating before his meal arrived.

Sitting on the low wall that runs around the rotunda of the Pantheon, we watched passersbys, and listened to music. There are a few musicians serenading people at night, which adds to the overall romantic feel about the city.

Dress Code: Casual, with good walking shoes!!!

Rome is at its best in the evening and night. The hot summer temperatures cool down. There is constant activity throughout the city. Head out of your hotel and explore Rome. Linger over dinner, share a bottle of chianti, savor some gelato, and hang out in one of the many piazzas, like Piazza Navona.

Dress Code: Our hotel was on the west side of the Tiber River (the Vatican side), so every evening, my family and I would cross over the river to The Other Side - the side with Piazza Navona, a fun, active place to spend part of the evening. Our hotel was only a 5 minute walk from the Piazza, so we did not think that being on the Vatican side of the river was a negative at all.