Google street view an invasion of privacy?

One of the awesome things about Rome is that it is one of the few European cities (and the only Italian city, I think) that has Google street view. This helps so much when trying to plan where to go or get an idea of what your destination looks like.

However, Italy and Google haven't been seeing eye-to-eye recently. Saying that the street view is a breach of privacy, an Italian watchdog is investigating to see whether or not there are grounds to take action.

If you ask me, too many people were caught in places they weren't supposed to be. At the moment that these pictures were taken, there were inevitably people going in and out of sexy shops, which could be embarrassing, not to mention who-knows-what-else could be going on.

Either way, it's raising some eyebrows in a country that has been suspicious of the internet from the start, not to mention had other problems with Google in the past. I just hope they don't get rid of it!

Inter wins Scudetto

That's all she wrote, folks. Even though Roma beat Chievo today, Inter did what needed to be done against Siena, maintaining their first-place position and thus securing the championship.

Despite all the "what ifs" about this season and the fact that it was such a heart-breaker to come so close, nothing but good things can be said about Roma. After an extremely poor start and coaching change, the giallorossi pulled it together the second half of the season to make an incredible run at the title, challenging an extremely strong Inter team that rarely makes mistakes.

Now, the only thing left is to see if Inter can complete their championship trifecta by winning the Champions League on Saturday against Bayern Munich (the other two were the Coppa Italia and Scudetto). Apparently coach Jose Mourinho was in tears after the win at Siena today, but I'm not buying it. If Inter wins next Saturday, I wouldn't be surprised to see Mourinho high-tail it out of Italy to the highest bidder (ehm, Real Madrid).

Arrivederci Spring 2010 Students!

Well it's that bittersweet time - time to go home for spring 2010 students in Rome. With only summer awaiting you and a load of good memories from your stay in the eternal city, Students in Rome would like to hear from you!

Tell us something that you have learned, pass on a funny experience, or offer a word of advice for the next group. We'll put any responses up on the site with attribution (or no, if you prefer), so help the next group of students by saving them a headache you went through!

Either comment on this post or send an e-mail to studentsinrome@gmail.com, responses can be as long or short as you like. We appreciate your contributions!

Roma beats Cagliari, championship not over yet!

After coming back to beat Cagliari 2-1 this afternoon, Roma have forced the championship to be decided on the last game day of the year. It all comes down to next week's games (Roma vs Chievo, Inter vs Siena). Basically, if one ties or loses and the other wins, the championship will belong to the winning team.

The infamous Inter coach Jose Mourinho has been throwing jabs at Roma in his usual attempt to play mind games, saying that they should pay Siena to try and win against Inter. Roma coach Claudio Ranieri responded by not responding (that is, refusing to get involved in Mourinho's childish games).

Shopping Malls in Rome

Shopping in the center is a hallmark of Rome. However, for those of us who are here for long enough that the via del Corso loop gets old (and expensive), there are a number of giant, modern shopping malls in Rome that, although they are outside the center, are not difficult to get to. Check out the new article on Students in Rome.

Inter wins Coppa Italia

That was an ugly one last night. Inter was able to frustrate and distract Roma, taking them completely off their game. It was full of fouls, insults, and one giant kick in the leg for Mario Balotelli, courtesy of Francesco Totti, resulting in a red card for the giallorossi captain.

While I would have loved to see Roma win this one, I think that last night Inter was the more deserving team. The Roma players couldn't get anything together.

So that's one title for Inter, as they chase two more in the coming weeks: Champions League (May 22 in Madrid against Bayern Munich) and the scudetto, which will be decided in the remaining few games of the Serie A season.

Want to soak up the sun? Go to the beach!

Anyone who was looking out their window on the flight into Rome knows that it is not far from the Mediterranean at all. In fact, the beach at Ostia is the go-to for Romans when they want to relax and cool off, mostly because it is so close and easy to get to.

Getting there with public transportation is really easy. What you need to do is take the Metro B to Piramide, which is also a train station, and take the train line that goes directly to Ostia. Once you get there you can either walk to the beach or take one of the buses a couple stops, nothing too difficult.

It's the same type of train as the metro and takes about 45 minutes (no worse than most normal journeys within Rome on the metro). According to the article linked to above, they are stepping up traffic to the beach on this train line, as well as offering a bus (although I would recommend the train, just for it's simplicity).

Reaction to Lazio-Inter

Well it looks like I'm not the only one to be upset about Lazio willfully conceding to Inter the other night. Here is a good article (in English) of both the situation and what the press around the world is saying.

Lazio rolls over

Lazio bent over and took it with a smile tonight, doing what they do best against against Inter: losing. In front of a crowd of Lazio fans cheering against their own team, they played like 10-year-olds at recess. This was against an Inter who was practically sleeping, having tired itself out with Barcelona earlier this week.

It will be interesting to see what the press reaction is to this, considering how anticipated this game was and how many people were wary of this exact situation. Not only is it a disgrace to the game, the fans, and everyone involved in Italian football, but it's illegal. Let's not forget that Italy is the home of calciopoli, (match-rigging -- the most famous instance of which was in 2006 when they took away the championship title from Juventus after discovering that they paid referees).

Roma wins 2-1 over Parma

With a fantastic goal from talisman Francesco Totti, Roma has held out this weekend with a 2-1 win over Parma, keeping the dreams of a championship tantalizingly close. We are left praying for an Inter loss (or tie) tomorrow against Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.

Changes to the site

So I've made a few changes to the website. I'm trying to keep up with the ever-changing integration with social networking sites (facebook) as well as make things a little more organized. There should be some new articles coming your way soon, I just need to find the time.

If there's anyone out there that would like to write an article, review, or anything else interesting, shoot me a message at studentsinrome@gmail.com, we'd love to have you.