Ciao!! Today was less busy, thank goodness. I needed a day to recover slightly.
I forgot to mention yesterday that our first media visit of the day was with the Vatican News! This was a great opportunity to learn more about how they handle their media here in Italy and how they relay information from the Pope to the public via social media. It was also interesting to learn how they go about conducting social media posts from the “Pope”,
Today, we had two media visits. The first one was at Artattack, here’s their website: http://arkage.it It was by far the best visit we’ve had (in my opinion). I love their vibe, their message, their ads…pretty much everything. They were very passionate about what they do, which was inspiring and enlightening to hear. Their office was unique, hip, and a great environment. Creative Director Mauro spoke for the majority of the time, showing us different ads they’ve designed, both video and social. I think this was one of the best things about the visit, because it gave us a chance to see the behind the scenes work into the ads they create.
After our time with Artattack, we were given time to roam around Rome! Not really though, we were only given enough free time to grab a quick lunch and meet again before heading to our next visit. A group of us stopped into a side spot with the most unique interior. The walls were covered in polaroids that show people from all around the world enjoying the pizza there.
With the interior being so cute and the guy working being so nice, I had to get something to eat! I decided on a pizza that came with mushroom and basil, no cheese. It was what you would expect looking at it. It was a good option for a quick snack that only cost me 1.80€. So I guess I can’t complain too much!
Once we all met up again, we headed for the bus stop. On the way to the bus stop, we passed over the most quintessential representation of Italy. We all had to stop and take a photo because it just looked so perfect and cute.
The next visit was to La Repubblica, which is an Italian daily newspaper. We were able to see where everybody works from and how huge it is. One thing I was very impressed with by them was their use of graphics and standalone pages that had to do with a bigger story. I’ve never had the desire to work for a paper, so it was interesting to still learn about how they use social media to grow their network and release the desired content.
Once we were done with our visit, we headed back to the hostel to meet up and go over plans for the next few days. This is where the day begins to get interesting (non media interesting at least). A group of our class decided to get together and take the tram to the area by the Trevi fountain because there’s a Pittsburgh/Steelers bar there. Yep, you read that right. Yinzer bar in Rome.
I was honestly afraid to go at first. I didn’t want to go to a bar with terrible towels plastered on the walls and people acting like yinz and slippy were in their everyday vocabulary. But, I sucked it up and met up with the others to head on over to the “Pittsburgh” bar. We all bought our tram tickets and didn’t wait long at all. We boarded our tram and were on our way to our bar. The only downfall of this was…the downpour that happened soon after. This wasn’t a normal rain. This was a “Oh, you have an umbrella? Well, that doesn’t matter because every inch of you is going to be soaked anyhow” rain. My shoes were sloshing as I walked. I felt as if I had just walked through a lake. Not to mention, the roads and sidewalks are so uneven here that we had to avoid several lakes. It got to the point that there was no reason to avoid the puddles, as our feet were already soaked.
But finally..finally we made it. After passing it once, asking several people where it was and then almost giving up..we found it. Luckily my data is unlimited while we’re here and my phone is also water resistant, as we were able to finally make our way to our destination.
It was worth it. The rest of the night was so much fun!
The owner of the bar was so incredibly nice and accommodating to our large group (other people from our overall group were there as well). I got two drinks, a Screwdriver and a Dark and Stormy, and afterwards the owner of the bar got us a table at a restaurant around the block. We got our bellies full, ran to catch the next tram home, and made it back safe and sound! (still not dry though).
So that was our 4th day here in Italy! Tomorrow, we have another media visit, followed by a decent amount of free time. Then, we meet up and take a bus to Marlon Brando’s former apartment to learn how to make authentic Italian pasta, and enjoy dinner with a view. Stay tuned! Ciao!