Rome may not be the
hippest of capitals, but for those who know the right places, it
is possible to party all through the night. Romans go out late and
the fun only really begins after dinner.
The wine-bars and cafés lying between Campo de’
Fiori, Piazza Navona and Via della
Pace are the places to be seen. Irish pubs have also become
popular over the last decade. The largest concentration of nightclubs
are to be found in the Testaccio district, where a plethora of small
venues offer concerts and dancing. The gay scene is alive and kicking
and accounts for many of the more avant-garde night spots.
The weekly Roma C’è
and monthly Time Out Roma publications have some
excellent information on the nightlife in Rome.
The legal drinking age in Italy is 16 years and the absence of licensing
laws means that drinking is possible at all hours. Most of the wine-bars
and birrerie stay open until 2400 hrs in the winter and 0200 hrs
in the summer. However, in general, people are more interested in
seeing and being seen and alcohol is almost an afterthought. The
prices of drinks vary considerably and a glass of wine at the Vineria,
Campo de’ Fiori, costs €2-5 (depending on the quality
of the wine), while a cocktail in a nightclub could be from €10.50.
Half a litre of draught beer usually costs around €4. Drinks
and coffees are always cheaper when consumed standing at the bar!
Romans tend to dress more casually than their counterparts in Milan
and Florence, although most of the women do their best to look stunning
for a night out.
Bars
The Vineria, loacted right in the middle of Campo
de’ Fiori, is still very ‘in’ and makes
a perfect rendezvous for an early evening drink. Customers range
from well-known actors to local winos, although lately the atmosphere
has become a little more wannabe. Just a few doors down at number
20 is the Drunken Ship, good for those in search
of English-speaking ex-pats and tourists. Equally popular and rather
more refined is Antico Caffè della Pace,
Via della Pace 5, close to Piazza Navona. The cosy interior is adorned
with antiques and the ivy-clad façade looks onto a notoriously
popular summer terrace. For a romantic pre-dinner aperitif, take
a table at Caffè di Marzio, Piazza Santa
Maria in Trastevere 15, and enjoy a glass of wine overlooking this
beautiful piazza in the heart of Trastevere.
Casinos
Gambling is banned throughout Italy (with the exceptions of San
Remo, Venice and Aosta).
Clubs
House music is a firm favourite here, although a number of the smaller
more alternative clubs play rock and revival. In the summer, many
clubs close, giving way to the countless unofficial outdoor venues
that spring up around town and beside the sea near Ostia.
The rich and famous frequent the Gilda, Via Mario
dei Fiori 97, close to Piazza di Spagna. Disco music dominates the
dancefloor, there’s a piano bar reserved for private parties
and a well-run restaurant. In summer the establishment moves out
to Fregene, on the coast, for Gilda on the Beach,
Via Lungomare di Ponente 11.
Some of Europe’s well known DJs play at Goa,
Via Libetta 13, close to Mercati Generali and recent guests include
the Chemical Brothers. House and jungle music predominate
amid a sophistacted ethno setting with candles and mirrors, insence
and flowers. Tuesday is gay night. Alien, Via Velletri
13-19, is brash and bold, with sexy dancers paid to gyrate to house,
commercial and revival. Theme evenings include ‘Stardust’
(house, funk, trance and dance) on Fridays and ‘Gay ’Night’
on Saturdays. In Testaccio, Alibi, Via Monte Testaccio
39, is frequented by ‘gay and friends’ and plays mainly
house music with occasional live concerts. Close by, Zoobar,
Via Monte Testaccio 22, plays house, rock and new wave to a mixed
and cheerful crowd.
Dance
The Teatro
Olimpico, Piazza Gentile da Fabriano 17, Flaminio (telephone
number: (06) 326 5991), has a strong dance season, which ranges
from classical to contemporary. Tickets for dance productions at
the Teatro
Argentina, Largo di Torre Argentina 52 (telephone number: (06)
6880 4601), are snapped up, so early booking is advised.
Film
Italy’s grand history in film has been centred in Rome since
the Cinecittà (Cinema City), Via Tuscolana
1, was opened by Mussolini in 1937. Scenes from
Anthony Minghella’s The English Patient (1996)
and Jane Campion’s The Portrait of a Lady (1996)
were both filmed in these studios but Italian cinema has failed
to match the flowering of the 1940s, 50s and 60s. Among the greats
are Rossellini’s Open City (1946) and Vittorio
De Sica’s The Bicycle Thief (1948), depicting
a harsh but touching picture of post-war Rome. Equally popular but
highly romanticised was Jean Negulesco’s Three Coins
in the Fountain (1954), which focused on the quest for
love and the Trevi Fountain, and Audrey Hepburn’s Oscar-winning
performance as a besotted princess in Roman Holiday (1953).
However, it is Fellini’s films – Roma (1972)
and La Dolce Vita (1959) – that have indelibly
stamped images of Rome on the movie-goer’s mind. More recently
Rome’s version of Woody Allen, Nanni Moretti, enjoyed considerable
success at home and abroad with a film called Caro Diario
(1993), which showed a beautiful and virtually empty Rome
in August.
Rome is blessed with over 80 cinemas and their numbers are increasing
all the time. Tickets cost about €7 (prices are often reduced
for matinee performances and on Monday evenings).
The three-screen Nuovo Pasquino, Piazza San Egidio
10, Trastevere (telephone number: (06) 580 3622), shows English-language
films daily. Metropolitan, Via del Corso 7 (telephone
number: (06) 3260 0500), and Warner Village Moderno,
Piazza della Repubblica 45-46 (telephone number: (06) 477 791),
dedicate one of their screens to English-language films. Films are
also shown in their original language on Monday evening at Alcazar,
Via Merry del Val 14 (telephone number: (06) 588 0099), while Nuovo
Olimpia, Via in Lucina 16G (telephone number: (06) 686
1068), shows original-language films regularly. There are numerous
open-air showings in the summer, including Cineporto,
Viale Antonio di San Giuliano (telephone number: (06) 324 3903),
close to the Olympic Stadium, and Notti
di Cinema a Piazza Vittorio (tel: (06) 445 1208), which shows
films daily in Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II during the months of
July and August. Weekly showings and details of film festivals are
set out in the weekly publication, Roma
C’è or in the daily press.
Live
music
For lovers of Jazz head for Big Mama, Vicolo di
San Francesco a Ripa 18. It is notoriously cramped but attracts
some good up-and-coming musicians, plus a few well known names.
Likewise, Fonclea, Via Crescenzio 82A, in the Prati
area (near to the Vatican), stages jazz and rhythm and blues concerts.
There’s a late-night restaurant and the bar serves excellent
cocktails and a wide selection of whiskeys. For more new or rarefied
jazz sounds and ethnic music, try the very hip La Palma,
Via Giuseppe Mirri 35 (near the Tiburtina metro stop). Nearby in
Testacccio, Caffè Caruso, Via Monte Testaccio
36, hosts performances from local and visiting Caribbean, Cuban
and Brazilian musicians, while the Villaggio Globale,
Ex-Mattatoio, Lungotevere Testaccio, offers a good line in alternative
and world music.
For something quite different, visit the Centri Sociali
(see the Culture page). One that is well known as a live music hotspot
is Brancaleone, Via Levanna 11, where a decisively alternative and
dressed-down crowd attends concerts, films, art exhibitions and
club nights. The Circolo degli Artisti, Via Casilina
Vecchia 42, offers an eclectic mix of reggae,rap, cyber punk and
grunge. |
