When in Rome

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Not necessarily good advice. Roman traffic is manic, at best. They double park. They park in all directions (but Smart cars lend themselves to being wedged in anywhere.) The motorcyclists and scooter riders weave in and out of cars and buses. I even saw one scooter weaving in amongst a segway tour group.

At one point I heard a commotion involving a horn and when I turned to look the "honker" was a nun. Apparently patience is not one of the virtues practiced by her order. But people only honk at drivers, never at pedestrians.

In the area surrounding the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain, people just walk out into the street, even though these are not designated pedestrian areas. Cars and trucks are coming, but no one seems to be in that much of a hurry. And no one gets hurt.

Street vendors seemed to congregate near the tourist areas. Some offering roses - "I give to you" - Yeah, right. Others were hawking those strange little toys that splat out flat and then reform into balls. These were a bit different because they made a squealing sound when they flattened. We just couldn't think of anybody with kids that we disliked enough to buy one for their kids. And then there were the guys selling scarves. They carried them on their arms - it must be tiring to hold your arms up like that all day -- and as you approached they opened their arms to show you the scarf. A bit like a flasher with his raincoat. But could those guys ever cut and run when they saw the carabinieri coming.

If I had to come up with a word or short phrase to describe Rome it would be "Grand Scale". Everything is larger than life. The Colosseum, built in the first century held 80,000 people. That's the same number as Cowboys Stadium. (Don't tell Jerry Jones that it's been done before.) The Circus held 250,000 people. Wow. The Glory that was Rome.

The Vittoriano is the biggest, grandest, structure I have ever seen. There is nothing in London that compares to it, and it's been a while since I've been to Paris, but I don't think there's anything comparable there, either. Not to mention the Vatican. St. Peter's is the biggest church in the world, and certainly one of the most ornate. I've seen some that rival it for splendor -- the Kykkos Monastery in the Troodos Mountains of Cyprus, for example. But in this instance, size matters!

A beautiful, beautiful city, but like all big cities, a bit hectic. We were happy to get on the train and head back to Spoleto, where things are a bit slower -- better suited to old gits and tarts like us.