My friend and I had gotten a late start that day since we had

Rome from the Piazza del Spagna

been out the night before until 8:00 in the morning painting Rome red. After having all of our personal possessions thrown into the hallway of a cheap Italian hotel and being verbally beaten by a short non-English speaking women for not yet checking out by 12:30 (which, needless to say, was a gross overreaction), we were definitely tired and needing rest for the night's festivities. We slept at our lavish

The view from the hotel room.

hotel in the Piazza di Spagna until about 8:00 pm.

That was about the time I strolled over to a small cafe to do some writing and was mistakenly, perhaps prophetically confused for an

A street in the Campo de Fiuri

American celebrity and spent very little time writing and more time posing in pictures with all of the people in the cafe including the workers.

After this alarming, yet entertaining experience, I headed back and partnered with my friend to celebrate the New Year.

***

A Roman street.

The incidents of this strange day were circulating in my head as I looked, from the top of the marble Spanish Steps, at the countless amount of insane drunk people throwing champagne bottles and dangerously tossing fireworks into the small, crowded streets.

Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug!

I had quickly drunk a bottle of champagne and was beginning to feel a little crazy myself. It was now 11:00, one hour before we would ring in the New Year in the Eternal City.

We were confused and hoping that the Piazza di Spagna would provide us with the intense party atmosphere for which we were looking. We cruised around the area while I snapped off hundreds of photos that could possibly be used for the magazine back at the States.

From the country that gave you Ferarri...

Time was elapsing much quicker than usual and my friend and I began to have the very anxious feeling that we needed to migrate somewhere else, fearing that we were missing out somehow.

Piazza del Spagna

My friend turned to me and said, "You know the Piazza del Popolo is notorious for girls kissing you at the stroke of midnight, and it's only about a block away."

Naturally there was no debating where to go.

We headed in the direction of the Piazza del Popolo and noticed that the amount of people in the streets was increasing by the second.

Same shit.

Things were beginning to take on the look of a riot, and we were both filled with a tremendous deal of nervous anticipation as to what was going to be happening in the world-famous square.

When we reached Popolo we were astounded to see upwards of twenty thousand people crowded into one area, acting like crazed beasts.

Cute Italian barflies.

The Piazza is slightly bigger than a football field, containing massive cathedrals that circle around the Volver, a tall monument with a cross on the top. People had lined the sides of the Piazza leaving a circular area of space empty to throw bottles and fire-crackers. The truly daring (or incredibly stupid) people had run to the center of the Piazza, around the Volver to be in the heart of the chaos.

Needless to say we ran to the center of the square, protecting our faces with our jackets, to be one with the other morons.

When we got there the crowd was in a fever, screaming and hugging each other when not throwing bottles wildly into the air. This was one of the first times on my trip abroad that I truly felt that my life could possibly be in jeopardy.

An American in Rome.

It was already 11:50, and over the hill we could get a slight glimpse of the Vatican where the Pope was speaking. This excited us because we knew the Vatican was going to set off a massive fireworks show at the crack of mid-night, and this would be a good way to put all of the crazed partiers on the same clock.

More Italian chicks.

We circled around the people chanting "Buene Feste" to as many pretty, Italian women that we could find. The time went quickly and before long it was 11:59 and the crowd was ready to chant the countdown and watch the fantastic display that was about to illuminate the sky.

Finally the moment came and the heavens were lit up by hundreds of

The more you drink, the harder it is to focus.

brilliantly colored fireworks. As if we were possessed by spirits, or possibly a case of good, old-fashioned "group think", my friend and I began to scream wildly and run like cheetahs through the crowd. We picked up every bottle in sight and chucked them aimlessly in every direction, while trying to guard ourselves from being hit by someone else's.

The intensity was something that no words can possibly encapsulate.

Two beautiful young flowers.

We had been to Times Square the year before to watch the ball drop into the year 2000, but nothing could compare to the insanity of this night.

I awoke, the next morning, feeling like I was the sole of an old shoe and my money and credit cards had been pickpocketed.

A friend I met in Italy.

But I was not upset. I was alive.

St. Peter's cathedral.

1) No logos, plain colors work: In Europe, Americans stick out like sore thumbs in the crowd. They wear a lot of browns, plaids and clothing that contains logos, like Fubu, Nike or Tommy Hill. You definitely don't see as much of this over seas, and the people generally stick to plain colors. Plain colors complement you much

Tim and Viollette.

better and make you look thinner and more sexy, plus, logos on your clothing make you a walking advertisement... that you're paying to wear. Americans like little designs on their clothing, especially on sweaters. Again, you don't see as much of this in Europe. Sweaters are much more effective when they are simplified, particularly plain colors like blues and blacks. Bright colors are not out of the question, but be careful not to look gaudy.

2) Sunglasses: "Fashion" and "Practicality" should not be even used in the same sentence. So with this in mind, when thinking about

Street life in Rome.

sunglasses it is not necessarily that important to be concerned with blocking the harmful ultra-violet rays of the sun. Be concerned with looking good. Americans generally stick to one of three looks when it comes to sunglasses. Either 1) The black "fly eye" looking sunglasses (which was made trendy by Bono from U2...a European). Or 2) The spaced-out Oakley snow boarder things. Or 3) The Ray Ban cop glasses. With all three, Americans generally have black lenses or mirrored lenses.

In Europe however, colored glasses are HUGE. Generally the sunglasses are the finishing touch on an outfit and just about everyone wears them, even sometimes at night or indoors (which, in all reality, is

Another American in Rome.

pretty pretentious...but then again...so is fashion when you really think about it.) Most of the time the shades are colored and you can see the person's eyes through them easily, which makes it apparent that the lenses probably don't protect you that much. A good example is one girl I saw walking through the Piazza de Spagna (very trendy place) in Rome. She had on dark red, almost maroon leather pants, an off-white blouse and a long, thin, red leather over-coat. To top off the "red motif" she had see-through red sunglasses that were square- shaped, taking up a noticeable portion of her face. This was a tough look to pull-off, but she did it perfectly. This was typical over there.

3) Baseball caps are played out: Give it up America, the cap is dead. Especially the "My College" caps. They don't look cool anymore, I'm telling you. Walking around the house bumming around wearing a cap because you haven't taken a shower yet is one thing. Or if you're at the beach, where it makes sense. But if you're one of those people that depend on the hat to look cool, think of something new.

4) Gym shoes: Of course, in Italy, Italian loafers are fairly popular. Also low top casual shoes, like Adidas or Puma are still fairly big...which is pretty similar to the States. The big basketball shoe is almost never seen though, but for some people in America, these shoes serve some kind of utilitarian purpose so that's OK. My pick though: Italian loafers. Beware though, you'll pay a pretty penny for them in the US.

5) Black, black, black: Black is always a good investment fashion- wise. Right now, in most parts of the States, black leather is big. Black leather WAS big a while ago in Europe. But no fear, black is

I know.

always trendy. The only thing that changes is what kind of black clothing is trendy. For a while it was black bubble-gooses. Then it was black p-coats, now black leather (in the US).

In Italy, black over coats were popular. Also, shorter black jackets made of slightly shiny polyester were fairly popular. In general though, it is never a bad idea to buy black clothes. It's a simple solution, it always looks good, and never really goes out of style (unless you get a highly sensationalized black article...like something gaudy with a huge collar.) On top of that, black looks good on anyone and it complements almost any skin tone. Plus it always looks professional and sleek.

Then again, if you don't care about this shit, that's cool as well. Thanks for reading.