Katie Parla, who became fascinated with Rome close to 10 years ago, has been living and working there since 2003. A graduate of West Windsor-Plainsboro High School, Class of 1998, her first trip to Italy was with the WW-PHS Latin Club in 1996 to do research in Rome, Naples, and Sicily.
“At that point I began seriously considering moving there after graduation,” she says. “Since then I have studied these places, first from afar as a student of art history at Yale, then from a closer proximity after moving to Italy four years ago.”##M:[more]##
In 2002 she graduated from Yale where she majored in art history with a specialization in classical art and archaeology. Since college she has worked for the American Academy in Rome and taught Roman Topography to freshmen at a private school. Since January, 2004, she has been giving scholarly tours of Rome, Naples, Pompeii, Sicily, and Apulia. Her specialties include southern Italy, archaeology, architecture, food, and wine.
She is based in Rome where she leads private didactic walks of Rome and Naples for Context Travel as well as her own clients. “I have also expanded my guiding services, providing private custom tours in Campania, Apulia (Puglia) and Sicily,” says Parla on her website.
Parla, who has written guidebooks for Time Out, Rough Guide, and DK Insight Guides, is a contributing writer for the Encyclopedia of Society and Culture in the Ancient and Medieval Worlds.
“2006 was a big year for me, one full of new experiences and opportunities, particularly in the realm of subterranean Rome. In June I became a certified archaeological speleologist for the city of Rome, which gives me greater access to Rome’s underground sites. I also worked for the History Channel as a producer and expert for three episodes of the series Cities of the Underworld. We filmed two episodes in Rome and one in Naples and were given access to some extraordinary places. Above ground, I began working towards my certification as a sommelier, which I earned in January, 2007.”
Parla is currently pursuing a master’s degree in food and wine history from the University of Rome-Tor Vergata.
Born and raised in West Windsor, her mother, Jo Ann Parla, is a real estate agent for Coldwell Banker; her father, Mike Parla, owns the restaurant Clydz in New Brunswick; and her sister, Lauren, WW-PHS, Class of 2000, is working on a master’s degree in art therapy.
During her high school years, she was president of the student council, an officer in the Junior Statesmen of America, worked for the yearbook, was involved in Model United Nations, and played soccer. “I started this blog to share my experiences about living and traveling in Italy,” Parla wrote at www.katieparla.com. “I was seeing too many beautiful places, eating too much fantastic food and drinking too much spectacular wine to keep all the information to myself.”
