My everyday life in Rome

Text & photos by Hertta Hiltunen, Portraits by Zaira Biagini

8:00 Buongiorno!

It feels always so good to wake up in the Eternal City, Rome – the city full of beauty, art and history. Every place in Italy has its unique charm, but I feel most at home in Rome. I love big cities full of energy and events. Rome is a fascinating mix of the vibrant capital and charming, laid-back old-school vibes. We are not too far from South Italy, and somehow I can feel a breeze of relaxed South Italian atmosphere in Rome.

I start most of my mornings by going for a long walk in town or into the parks like Villa Borghese.

I am not an early morning person, but sometimes it´s worth going for a walk immediately when the sun rises (in the summertime this means at 5 am.). Walking through silent and empty Rome and seeing the historic center and famous landmarks like Colosseum, Fontana di Trevi and Forum Romanun all by myself is an incredible experience. It feels like walking in a movie set, which it actually literally is.

When the city starts to wake up, the locals gather in cafes to start their days. It is time to indulge myself with a cappuccino and a vegan cornetto.

I like to live in the city center. I get energy when I see people and hear the sounds of the city.

Streets of Trastevere.

Pure happiness.

9:30 Shopping at the market

After my morning walk, I often do some grocery shopping at the market to get fresh vegetables and fruits. Italy is a paradise for me, as I have been a vegetarian since I was 16. We get our own vegetables all year round. I could live in Italy only because of the tomatoes. They are so sweet and they come in multiple different variations. Today I bought apples from Toscany, sweet datterino-tomatoes from Sicily and lemons from Amalfi Coast.

Markets like Mercato Trionfale in Prati sell fresh local fruits and vegetables, wines, cheese, spices, bakery products, fish and meat.

Mmm…

Spicing up my life.

10:00 Time to work

I love slow mornings. Yes, it is already 10 am, and I am just about to start my workday. Kind of.

I work mainly as a journalist and blogger, and I am sort of working all the time. For me, walking in town or sitting in the cafe is also a good time to process things and to get new ideas, whether it’s about work or personal life. So, I will keep my morning routines.

At the moment I work mainly for womens-, and lifestyle magazines. I make stories about people, culture and lifestyle. My work is very rewarding because I get to know new people and their worlds, and I learn new things every day.

I work as an entrepreneur and I don´t count working hours. Sometimes I work 12 hours a day, seven days a week, and sometimes I take a day off in the middle of the week and do something fun. For example, if I want to go to see a museum, I go rather on Tuesday than on the weekend when places are more crowded. And in the summertime, I might head to the beach even it’s Monday morning.

By the beautiful Tiber river.

13:30 Lunchtime

Roman lunches can be long with many courses, wines and desserts, especially on weekends. Today I enjoyed lunch at one of my favourite restaurants, Il Sorpasso, in Prati.

I also like making healthy vegetarian dishes at home. In wintertime, I make often delicious soups like minestrone, from the fresh ingredients I pick from the market. I also like salads, tortillas and anything with avocado for lunch. I rarely cook pasta when I am in Italy… They do it better in restaurants...

Vegetarian pasta with ricotta for lunch.

14:30 Back to work

After a good lunch and a little walk in the fresh air, I am back at work. Surprisingly, half of my work as a writer is other than writing. I am doing interviews, research on my topics, planning on new stories and selling my ideas to my clients. It´s a lot of work, but being creative makes me happy.

18:00 Time to dance

I sit way too much in front of the computer because of my work, so there is no better after work than a dance class or a little workout session. I have been training lately with my friend, dancer Hanna Karttunen. She is a three-time world champion in exhibition dance and ranked number one in the world of latin dance. In Italy, she is also known as a dancer and teacher in Ballando con le Stelle, the Italian version of Dancing with the Stars.

Hanna is a Finnish-born cosmopolitan. She travels around the world as a dancer, teacher and dance judge in competitions, and now she is also occasionally teaching latin dance in her Love to Dance with Hanna -online classes that are open for everyone! Today we are dancing samba and learning some voltas and bota fogos.

I love also her Flexibility for Dancers -classes and Go Figure -full-body conditioning workout classes, both available online.

Another thing I am excited about is, that I am taking acting classes in Rome. We have classes on weekends, and on weekdays we often have a script to learn and some home exercises to do. At the moment we are practicing Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller.

20:30 Evening walk

The atmosphere of Rome changes depending on the season and the time of the day. In springtime, swallow birds sing and the whole city smells like jasmine, in the summer the city is steaming hot, and Romans spend their days at the beach. Fall and winter season the city becomes mystic and romantic, especially when it rains.

I think Rome is the most beautiful at night when the city sparkles in evening lights and people gather in the piazzas.

Rome has over 300 monumental fountains.

The iconic landscape. St. Peters cathedral in the Vatican is the world´s biggest religious building.

If I would buy a Vespa, it would be pink, baby blue, mint color or red.

Better than a candyshop.

Yes, please.

21:00 Dinnertime

Dining together with friends and family is important in Italy, and I am getting well into Italian traditions. I like to meet friends for an aperitivo (drinks and snacks) after work around 17–19 and later for long dinners.

The more south you go, the later the dinner is. In Northern Italy, the dinnertime is around 19. In Rome, dinnertime starts around 20–21. In my birth country Finland, the rhythm is different. There the dinner can be already after work at 17–18.

Today I enjoyed dinner at La Canonica -restaurant in Trastevere and late-night drinks and rooftop views over Rome on Cielo terrace.

Roses from my dinner date…

Negroni is a classic Italian cocktail.

So ROMAntic.

00:00 Bedtime stories

I am a total night owl. No matter how early I wake up, I always get extra energy in the evening. I try to unwind by taking a hot shower (I miss Finnish sauna), enjoying a cup of camomille or lavender tea, and reading a book. Relaxing by reading has always been a bit difficult for me, maybe because I write for work, and I usually want to do something completely different in my free time.

Lately, I got some good books as a gift, and it made me change my evening habits. In this fast-paced world, I feel reading and concentrating on one thing at a time feels refreshing and calming.

At the moment I want to read classics. My latest favourites are Seneca´s On the Shortness of Life (a must-read for everybody!), Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and The Brothers Lionheart by Astrid Lindgren. Yes, I think we need fairytales even – or especially – as adults.

Currently reading…

Buonanotte & sogni d´oro! <3

Pssst! Watch a YouTube- video of my every day in Rome by clicking the photo. <3