Rome

Neighbourhoods with different rhythms

Rome doesn't have one centre but several, each with its own character. Trastevere, on the Tiber's west bank, has stone lanes, family-run trattorias, and nightlife that runs late; Monti, next to the Colosseum, has small shops and a neighbourhood feel that doesn't read as touristy at first glance. Prati, by the Vatican, is more residential and orderly; Testaccio, historically the slaughterhouse district, now holds the city's most genuine food market and Roman cooking in its most original form, away from the historic centre's crowds. The Pantheon, with its open oculus at the top of the dome, lets rain fall straight into the temple — a nearly two-thousand-year-old piece of engineering that still works as drainage today.

The food Romans defend fiercely

Cacio e pepe, carbonara, and amatriciana are three dishes Romans defend against any variation — carbonara with no cream, amatriciana made with guanciale, not pancetta. The Jewish Ghetto, near Largo Argentina, keeps its own Roman-Jewish cooking alive, including carciofi alla giudia, artichokes fried to a historic recipe. The public drinking fountains (nasoni) run free, drinkable water across the whole city — an empty bottle can be refilled almost anywhere, a detail few visitors know before they arrive.

The Vatican, getting around, and getting there from Tirana

The Vatican is its own state inside Rome, with a strict dress code: shoulders and knees must be covered to enter St Peter's Basilica. Fiumicino airport connects to Termini station via the Leonardo Express train in about 32 minutes; Ciampino, used by several low-cost airlines, requires a bus into the centre. Frequent direct flights run from Tirana to both airports — the flight itself takes just an hour and twenty minutes — among the routes most in demand from Albanian travellers, both for the short distance and the large Albanian community living in Italy. The historic centre's cobblestones look good but are hard going with wheeled luggage and the wrong shoes.