Everyday can be a Roman holiday, but it doesn't come cheap

I wont beat around the bush about it. Rome is not cheap.

But life here is extraordinarily rich, in a way that cant really be measured in financial terms. And Id argue that the lifestyle that The Eternal City inspires&one with an emphasis on aestheticism rather than commercialism&means youll get great value for the money you do spend. Not that youll be thinking of that.

Instead of spending days of leisure trudging through a shopping mall, youll visit the Forum or an ancient awe-inspiring museum. Theres always something interesting on the agenda.

For instance, Jan. 27 was the centenary of the death Giuseppe Verdi. It was celebrated in Trastavere (where I live with my wife) with a free performance of The Requiem Mass at Santa Maria by the Rome Opera.

A timely moment to visit Rome

The point is that this is nothing out of the ordinary. Every weekend there is a festival in some nearby medieval village to enrich and entertain us&and with good restaurants and local wine to take home.

And the good news is that with the current exchange rate, life in Rome is over 10% cheaper for the dollar-spender than it was 18 months ago.

Trastavere is the swinging center of Roman nightlife. I commute the two miles to my stop-in office by motorino (moped). My motorino isnt exactly speedy. My mechanic tells me it has farni, which I think means a speed governor, but as a result I enjoy and absorb the 3,000 years of Roman history as I make my way through rush hour traffic&ignoring most traffic rules like every other good Roman.

My office is on the fashionable Via del Corso, 100 yards off the Piazza del Popolo. (Romes hottest record store is next door.) As a 58-year-old semi retiree I dont work there very hard or very often. But for a small monthly fee it gives me a place of recluse where I can visit my Italian buddies, talk Italian politics or listen to old Italian sayings (which are just like American sayings but with better hand gestures). Here I contact my few American clients who channel their Italian activities through me.

Trastevere, which sits on the right bank of the Tiber (facing downstream), was traditionally entered from ancient Rome at Tiber Island. As the bohemian quarters it has its own unique style. It was the 14th Urb (district) under Caesar Augustus and was the Jewish quarters during the emergence of Christianity.

It has a long tradition of civil disobedience. Through the centuries its been the immigrants center, the blue collar workers area, the fishermens quarters, and now a place where artisans, students, sidewalk sleepers, and the more colorful Romans live, along with a few retired expats.

With its own dialect, shopping quarters, rules about parking (very few), its a place where the authorities tend to avoid disciplinarianism&because they know it wont do much good anyway.

Classic Italian dining

Its also a great spot to feast on a mouth-watering Roman meal. A liter of local wine&bruschetta (toasted bread topped with fresh fragrant tomatoes, basil, and extra virgin olive oil)&buccatini Amatriciana, (al dente pasta with unsmoked bacon and tomato sauce topped with pecorino cheese), ox tail, and dolce (dessert) &served up at a table dressed with a fresh tablecloth and cloth napkins by a professional waiter for $15 to $20&or a wood-fire cooked pizza and fried antiasto for even less.

Your $15 entitles you to the table for as long as you want to linger, but do slip the waiter a small tip when leaving (never more than 5%).

Our apartment in Trastavere is about 850 square feet, which includes a bathroom, a kitchen, one bedroom, a hallway large enough for a desk, and a large sitting room with 12-foot-high ceilings. Two large windows in the sitting room overlook the daily market at Piazza San Cosimato, where vegetable-, fruit-, and meat- vendors supply our cooking needs.

Incidentally the garage for my motorino is any convenient no parking sign to which I chain it each night.

To rent a furnished apartment like ours in Trastavere today would cost approximately $1,500 per monthif you could find one. This is a bargain compared to the left bank Centro Storico historic district (where youll find a lot of corporate expats). A similar apartment here might cost you $2,400.

Free Verdi arias

Dont even think about a terrace or a bit of space outdoors to sit or fire up your barbecue, unless youre prepared to add another $500 and several months of searching to find it.

We happily do our outside sitting at the bar downstairs. There were treated to the bar-owner singing Verdi arias as he serves cappuccinos and cold beer while we read or listen to the market chatter.

A nearby apartment, about 30% larger than ours, was recently on sale for a negotiable $325,000. But it did need some substantial fixing up. Looking on the positive side, this would be a good exercise in improving your language skills and your patience.

As a city, as an experience, and as a relationship, Rome is a complex place. Its layers of history dating back 3 millennia put ancient temples next to medieval churches and Renaissance palaces. Its layers of culture mix old nobility riding bicycles with nouveau yuppies in Smarts and Ferraris.

I tell my friends that if you dont have anything to do, Rome is a great place not to do it. IL

Italy is one of the many expatriate destinations written about in International Living at www.internationalliving.com.

Residency permits and website resources (box from page 9) Owners and agents for temporary, long term rentals, and apartment sales advertise on the website: www.wantedinrome.com.

Run by an American, Yolanda Bernardini and her son Giancarlo, Welcome Home specializes in long term expat relocation. Contact them by e-mail at [email protected]. For short-term rentals contact www.shortletsassistance.com; e-mail:[email protected].

Rental commissions are one months rent for long term rentals, short term commissions are about 10% depending on the length of stay.

Italian permesso de soggiorno (residence permit) information can be found at the Boston Consulate website www.italconsboston.com. Non-working Americans are required to have proof of insurance, income, and a place of residence. Americans without residence permits can stay in Italy for up to 90 days at a time, after which an exit from the European Union (Switzerland or Austria are acceptable) is required.

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Article compliments of www.internationalliving.com.