We went to English pubs, specifically the typical corner pub called the Devonshire. We spent whole evenings there, a fluctuating pack of ten on average, lounging around a coffee table in a dimly lit pub. We talked, debated, and laughed. We listened to the pop music from all over the world that was playing, and we drank the occasional strawberry-flavored beer. We just had a wonderful time.

Another night my friend took me to a club where there were four local punk bands playing. The large room was three-quarters full of people of all ages, some with drinks in their hands, others having conversations around the few tables near the walls. The bands' quality ranged from barely tolerable to excellent, but the whole experience was well worth the evening and the seven pounds sterling.

Then I went to Paris. Paris, like London, has a quite a bit of vigor. One evening I patronized a nightclub filled with young people and rhythmic dance-pop music. Even my lack of proficiency with the French language was not a deterrent to my having a good time that night. The next night was spent at the Louvre, which on Wednesdays and Fridays is open until 10 pm, and after 6 pm on these days people under 26 years old get in free. The Louvre became my nightclub, of sorts. (French young people, amazingly enough, take their dates to the Louvre, rather than a movie.)

Three days later, I returned to Rome, and remembered what it was like. Rome doesn't have nightclubs with amateur bands. Rome doesn't have corner pubs. Rome doesn't have museums open late nights. No, Rome is not Paris or London. The entire city seems to shut down, close up shop before 11 (for the most part) - Romans like to get their sleep. There are clubs and bars, yes, but they are on the outskirts of the city, in places like the San Lorenzo district where many Italian students live, but they are not common.

Rome may not have the entertainment, the vigor and nightlife that other, more cosmopolitan cities have, but it has a different charm which is entirely unique. The people here have no desire for grandeur on the scale of Paris, or international importance like London. Instead, they pursue a more social, leisurely life, develop communities within the city, make friends of shopkeepers and local policemen. They enjoy simple things, like cheap bread and coffee, as well as a good home-cooked dinner. In Rome life is slower, not as stressful, not as exaggerated as the extremes of a modern city. Rome may not have many modern entertainment venues that young people from urban America have come to expect, but there is no place in the world better to spend night after night in a trattoria with friends, eating consistently wonderful food over a glass of wine.