When in Rome ...

12 June

Nothing exciting today, just getting from London to Rome. Everything uneventful.

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Picked up the car in Rome with a couple of surprises – the GPS is now combined with the air conditioning and everything else on a touch screen and the parking brake is now “automatic” (I have no confidence in it).

The flat we have rented in Rome is very comfortable with all the basics and a pizza restaurant one floor below. However it does have a large double sink and no bench space whatsoever making cooking an exercise in inventiveness.

The state of the economy is evident as in the area we are staying the streets are lined with weeds growing in the gutters and rubbish lies everywhere.

13 June

Today we jumped on the suburban train and headed into town. We had been given a recommendation to visit view points on the west side of the Tiber so transferred t a local bus, changed buses and then leapt out with no real idea where we were. Our first stop was by a fountain celebrating a pope. After a walk we came to a monument to Garibaldi with statues of many unknown (to us) blokes lining the road. The views were good, but the gelato and ice tea from an exorbitantly expensive street vendor were better.

With the temperature hitting 29C we gave up o
n walking and caught the bus back down the hill and grabbed some lunch in Trastevere. The racks of clothes displayed on the footpath kept Gillian occupied for a while, then we wandered down to the river and crossed to the area of the Circus Massimo. We stopped to pear in at an area that was attracting huge numbers of tourist and found it was an old sewer manhole cover that has become a drawcard due to the human face on it. 

At this stage we decided we were hot and tired, so walked back to catch the tram home. We did manage to pass some major Roman monuments.  At one point we came across an area that was being excavated with all removed dirt being washed by hand in case a fragment of pottery may be missed.

There is some kind of celebration happening in the restaurant below us tonight involving a number of women and some flowers. Gillian is convinced it is a hen night.

We now know our way around the local supermarket, but are completely unable to find any dishwashing detergent. However their selection of ham and other cold meats is extensive.

Our entertainment this evening was a “discussion” between 3 drivers below our flat, apparently about a minor accident, with much waving of arms. Given the state of many cars around Rome, these bumper benders are common which is not surprising given the Roman drivers tendency to push the limits of traffic regulations. Standard advice to tourists is that red lights are an invitation to play chicken and that pedestrians need to walk out firmly on crossings and that the traffic will (hopefully) stop. They add that it is a good idea to wait for the locals to cross so you can use them as a human shield!