The New Roman Times

Did you know there’s a massive Roman amphitheater in Croatia? Technically, there are three Roman amphitheaters still standing in Croatia, but the one in Pula, on the Istrian Peninsula, is the largest and best preserved. Last year, while scouting around Trieste with my friend Elisa Valeria Bove, CEO of Roma Experience, for a special project for Condé Nast Traveler, we decided to take a day trip to see it.

Welcome to the New Roman Times’ neighborhood guide series! Every now and then, I spotlight a specific neighborhood that I think is worth a deeper exploration for paid subscribers. Have a neighborhood you’d like a guide to? Email newromantimes@substack.com or leave a comment here! Close your eyes and imagine the postcard version of Rome. Do you see ivy-draped weathered buildings on narrow cobblestone streets lined with family-run bakeries, cheese shops, and salumerie?

You might have heard of Sperlonga, a little beach town beloved by Romans. It’s certainly not as famous as the Amalfi Coast, but it’s not exactly a secret either. Located about an hour and a half south of Rome on a part of the coast sometimes called the Ulysses Riviera, Sperlonga has been drawing sun-seekers to its shores since before the Roman Empire.

The island of Capri needs little introduction. Practically synonymous with la dolce vita, it has been luring elite travelers to its rocky shores since antiquity. Rising dramatically out of the Bay of Naples, it’s tied to ancient myths of the sirens in The Odyssey, famously drew celebrities like Jackie O. and Elizabeth Taylor in the 1960s, and continues to enchant travelers today.

It’s nearly noon in Sardinia and my husband, Marco, is suddenly gripped by anxiety. “It’s getting late. How will we find parking?” Ahh, the Italian beachgoer’s eternal dilemma: where to park the car. When planning our beach days around Rome, I’ve grown accustomed to sussing out the parking situation before we head out the door.

Welcome to the New Roman Times’ neighborhood guide series! Every now and then, I’ll spotlight a specific neighborhood that I think is worth a deeper exploration for paid subscribers. Have a neighborhood you’d like a guide to? Email newromantimes@substack.com or leave a comment here! A few blocks west of Piazza della Repubblica and uphill from Piazza Barberini is the Quirinale, one of Rome’s seven hills.

Most people who go to Sicily fly into either Palermo or Catania, but did you know that you can also get there aboard a train that gets loaded onto a ferry? That’s right, you can board the train in Rome and ride it all the way down the Italian peninsula to Calabria, where the entire train rolls onto a ferry and crosses the Strait of Messina. It’s a feat of engineering the likes of which most people never see in their lifetime.

One of the things I love most about Rome is how green it is. It might not seem that way at first, but look around the centro storico and you’ll notice ivy-covered buildings, bougainvillea sprouting in giant bushes, and jasmine-covered walls that emanate the most incredible scent in the spring and summer. I love the way verdant plants make up part of the urban fabric here.

Last Thursday, as I was wandering around the Spanish Steps with a bit of time to kill before an appointment, I decided to stop by Marella to see if there was anything I should return for when the saldi start. To my surprise, as soon as I entered, a shop assistant told me that the summer collection was already 30% off, even though the signs weren’t up yet. I walked out with a new navy blue blazer, glad that I had snagged it before someone else snatched it up.

For a little village with a year-round population of less than 400 people, Portofino has an outsized reputation. Once a humble fishing village on Liguria’s Riviera di Levante, Portofino began to attract English and Northern European travelers on the Grand Tour in the late 1800s and cemented its reputation as a hotspot for wealthy aristocrats and celebrities in the 1950s and ‘60s.