Finding La Roma
So it was bound to happen. Mere months after I extolled the beauty and comfort of my neighborhood La Condesa, I moved. To La Roma, a place I considered its edgier and grittier neighbor. But, lo and behold, it has its charm, too.
Once considered the refuge of struggling artists and writers, the bohemian vibe is still evident in the numerous tiny cafes and bars that range from holes in the wall to pretty hip joints. It’s generally a cheaper area, with a wider diversity of classes and ethnic groups. I moved here because I fell in love with my new apartment, with its pink, graffiti-ed walls in the living room, and lovely wallpaper and hardwood floors in the bedrooms. The building is old, and I can get comida corrida downstairs for 35 pesos.
Now this is a ‘hood where the water hasn’t always been steady and the light has been known to be knocked by out by a storm or two, but as my friends and now fellow Romans tell me, it’s a necessary sacrifice.
I’m glad to be here, though, and want to explore Roma daily. But now I really need a new bike.
Filed under: Uncategorized | 5 Comments
Tags: colonia roma, mexico city, moving
I think I used live like two blocks from that photo, I ate at that Subway like six times a week when I was really broke (it was the only cheap place that accepted credit card). That’s the Subway on Álvaro Obregón, right? Small world.
Ha yep, gotta love Subway . . .
Edgy and gritty? Roma?? Not since the 1985 earthquake has it been considered anything but a bourgeois colonia. You might, for it’s “bohemian” past, take a look at Luis Zapata’s early 1980s novel, “Adonis Garcia: Vampire of Colonia Roma”.
Yeah, I don’t know if edgy and gritty are the words I would use to describe Roma, but it sure is a great neighborhood. Congrats on finding the new place.