When in Rome: Moving into the eternal city

Follow my blog with Bloglovin Some of my favourite things about Rome so far include: the opportunity to use the phrase 'when in Rome' completely unnecessarily at least six times a day (see title), the fact it is still very much suncream and gelato weather in late October, and the way that almost whichever direction you walk in, you can't go more than a few minutes before coming across some huge famous attraction or other. Even though my first two days here have been taken up with my frantic search for a home, I've already passed many of the city's landmarks by accident, the Colosseum at nighttime being a fave.

The Colosseum by day...

...and night

The househunt itself has been enlightening, stressful and thus far fruitless. Having never had to deal with classified ads or landlords - once again, Oxford has left me woefully unprepared for the real world - the task is about a million times harder in a foreign language. I had no idea where to look, what questions I should ask, and I hate hate hate talking on the phone to strangers.

My first viewing brought me unwittingly into the heart of Rome's gay district. A tip: 'friendly', when said in English, can often mean 'gay friendly' in Italy - I hadn't realised this, so when people told me this was a friendly area, I'd just thought "that's nice! And it's pretty - look at all the rainbows." Apparently the specifically designated Gay Street di Roma is a recent development and was opened as an area where gays and lesbians can feel at ease, following protests over two men allegedly being arrested for kissing in public. That might sound incredibly backward for a democratic European country, but it must have been a massive milestone for Rome's gay community to finally be acknowledged and accepted in the Catholic-dominated city. And it's a great area, right by the Colosseum but not overwhelmed by it, bustling with bars, cafes and of course tourists.

The apartment however did not appeal; not only was the decor very, very pink, with a life size painting of two naked ladies in what would have been my room, but the flat was to be shared with a middle-aged man who spent the entire time chain-smoking and telling me I didn't need to worry about him because he wasn't even at home most nights if I knew what he meant. On to the next viewing then.

After two days of searching I was beginning to despair; one apartment was lovely but much too far from the centre, I arrived at another to be told it had already been taken, whilst the other three were shared with just men. This was made creepier in one case by the fact the advert had stipulated it was available specifically to female students, leading me to presume it was an all-female apartment and to get excited for girly bonding with my new flatmate besties - only to be greeted by two men in their thirties. Hmmmm.

But my final appointment today was the winner by far. The apartment isn't in the neighbourhood where I really wanted to live (Monti), but is less than a 10 minute walk away, shared with 4 other students, and generally looks lovely. I've got two or three final places to see tomorrow but have my fingers firmly crossed for this room. I'm hoping that in the next couple of days I'll be able to get my accommodation finalised, get fully settled in, and finally get down to some intensive sightseeing.