Rome/Esquilino
Esquilino, a district of Rome, is named for the Esquiline hill on which it stands. It lies south of the Termini station and centers more or less on the Piazza Vittorio Emmanuele II.
It is now largely a Chinese immigrant neighborhood, and specialty groceries and shoe stores abound. (There is also still some disgruntled spraypaint to be found lamenting this fact, such as "Esquilino - White and Catholic. Defend it with us.")
See
Movies are shown and some performances are held for free in the piazza's park during the summer.
Buy
The area is also home to the Mercato Esquilino, an indoor market of ancient provenance that recently moved from its longtime outdoor home; it is only a couple of blocks east of the piazza. The mercato is divided into a food section, with good and cheap produce, meat, and fish, and a clothing section, with clothes of all kinds, shoes, luggage, etc. at low prices and generally not fabulous quality. Get there in the morning for food; it's generally closed by afternoon.
Sleep