“La Dolce Vita” – Student Version

It has officially been 2 weeks since I’ve arrived to Rome- to read more about my adventure in arriving visit Studio Jonah! Being in Rome, as a student (this is part of my program), I’m not going to be modest, is probably the best semester of my degree so far. Each morning I get to walk down the winding paths of Rome’s unstructured city fabric, smell the freshly brewed coffees and pastries, and awe in the everlasting ruins of the Colosseum and the Roman Forum. There are some drawbacks… I’m a student, which is basically a synonym for a broke individual destined to live a frugal lifestyle. So how can the famous “La Dolce Vita” (The Sweet Life) apply to me?

I window shop a lot.

This gives me the thrill of possibly owning something in genuine Italian leather, but if I don’t? Hey, at least I had the option to consider it.

I eat Italian meals – Pizza, Pasta, & Gelato

Eating & cooking local meals means I’m not spending unnecessary amounts of money to replicate what I would want to eat at home. Plus, it makes me feel less like a tourist.

I walk. A lot.

I live a 20 minute walk away from school, 30 minute walk from the closest grocery store, and an hour away from the main attractions. While avoiding public transportation doesn’t save that much money, it does give me a chance to see all my surroundings and give opportunities for impromptu visits into little stores.

Public Spaces here are wonderful.

I like ‘People Watching‘, and the piazzas here are always lively and full of activity. As part of one of my courses, we have to sketch once a day. I take time to just sit in these plazas and sketch- this type of leisure entertainment literally can’t be any cheaper than this.

So, even being a student in such a touristic and therefore expensive area of the city, there are so many little things that contribute to such a sweet life, dolce vita, that I can truly understand why Rome is so captivating to everyone.