The Streets of Rome

Our first full day in Rome we spent exploring the streets – first via foot.

Our personal tour guide Nicole, who had so much trouble in the streets of Boston just a few months ago, had no problem leading us around the streets of Rome. She took us from one spot to another, and we walked 8 miles that day.

Not only did she navigate the streets, but she knew how to cross them – which is different from crossing streets in the US.

In the US, you wait at a crosswalk for traffic to stop. In Rome, traffic will not stop until you step in front of it.

This is okay, though, for one reason. The Italian driver will see you, where you can’t always count on the US driver seeing you.

I have a theory as to why this is the case. In the US we have plenty of crazy drivers, but there are still times you can relax while driving and, therefore, become distracted either in thought or on your phone.

In Rome ALL. THE. DRIVERS. ARE. CRAZY.

Therefore, they have to have a hyper awareness of what is going on around them at all times. So they see the person standing in the road.

Though it is a little disconcerting watching your daughter walk ahead of you into oncoming traffic.

We were also often on narrow cobblestone alleyways crowded with people. At least I thought they were alleyways. Until a car, or even a truck, would come through parting the crowd.

Here are some of the sites that we saw:

Dave and Chris really enjoyed walking through the basilicas. Heather and I really enjoyed watching them while seated in the pews. A lot of walking gets to her back and my legs. I’ve been having trouble with my Achilles, so Nicole and Dave had to flank me in coming down the Spanish Steps.

We also did a lot of eating and drinking.

Once we finished our gelato, we headed off to the next part of our day – a golf cart tour of Rome. Or, more specifically, a golf cart drinking tour of Rome that included a stop for prosecco, cheese, and salumi.

We had a great time with our guide John who gave us the impression we were his best tour group ever. I’m sure that was the case. Of course David hit it off with him. John was very knowledgable and even told us about St. Peter’s Bastille.

We ended up back at the Trevi Fountain, and John took a selfie with us because he liked us so much.

Going through the photos, I came across another picture of pasta and thought the time stamp on it must be wrong. 9:59 pm. And then I remembered. When we got back from the golf cart tour around 9:00, the kids wanted dinner.

I just shook my head.

Tomorrow: the Colosseum, more basilicas, and more food.