This was our fourth time in Rome together. During previous visits, we made a point of seeing the monuments, going to other tourist sites, and exploring the city by walking all over the place. On this trip, we did have an agenda, but it was not tourist-related. Agenda items included figuring out how to get 24 liters of olive oil home, going to Ristorante Giulia, going to a restaurant specializing in Abruzzese food, and generally just wandering around.
In a densely populated city such as Rome, it’s beneficial to have a small car. You can see lots of Smart cars which zip around and are easier to park than larger cars.
One benefit of a Smart car is that it can park perpendicular in a parallel parking zone.
We also saw some newer models of cars that we hadn’t see in the past.
Here’s a little 2-person electric car at a charging station.
Here’s a one-person electric car by Renault
All-electric Yoyo model by XEV
Of course, motorcycles, Vespas, and other scooters are also great, because you can zip in and out of traffic, and free parking is easy.
A church plaza filled with motorcycles and scooters
Speaking of driving, we learned two new things while in Italy. First, if you move to Italy, you can only drive with a foreign license for one year. After that, you have to have an Italian driver license if you want to drive. Second, the driver test is extremely hard. We heard this both from our Canadian friends and from Chad’s Italian relatives. So, in preparation for a potential move to Italy, we went to a bookstore in Rome and bought a two-volume driver license study guide. Volume one is the textbook, and volume two contains thousands of example test questions. Of course, the books are all in Italian and the language is very technical, so, in addition to learning the Italian rules of the road, these books will be an exercise in translation for us.
driver license study books
We did walk past some of the famous sites such as Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon. However, I didn’t take any photos there since I already have photos from previous trips. Instead, I took notice of other interesting buildings and urban features.
I liked this stately building on the corner of a main avenue
This archway led into a grand courtyard
another view of the church that had all of the scooters parked in the plaza in front
a little alley in the Jewish ghetto
I liked the covered terrace at the top of this building – seems like a good place to hang out when it’s too hot in the sun or when it’s raining outside
this church was at the intersection of two narrow streets, so it was hard to get a good photo, but it had an interesting “coin offering” feature
this church had a slot on the front of the building where you can insert coins to support the poor who have died (and are perhaps in purgatory?)
I love this fountain with its turtles.
the fountain
close-up of the turtles
We also paused to notice the details that are typically overlooked by tourists who are on a schedule.
Parking on the main avenue along the river had notices indicating that parking would be prohibited that weekend due to the Giro d’Italia passing through Rome (the Giro is the Italian version of the Tour de France).
Many of the cobblestone streets are so narrow that there is no room for a sidewalk. Instead, a pedestrian pathway is striped off and a symbol indicates which side to walk on.
Throughout our trip, we saw a lot of unique restrooms signs in restaurants indicating Men’s and Women’s. Here’s one for the women’s room in Ristorante Giulia.
We saw some fun things in shop windows.
I liked this jewelry set inspired by leaves from the ginkgo tree
We saw this coffee service fashioned from chocolate in a confectioner’s shop
this is perhaps the world’s largest loaf of deli meat
And, finally, viewership of Stranger Things is not limited to the United States.
a cardboard cutout of Eddie Munson
at Easter time, giant chocolate eggs are given as gifts – here’s a Stranger Things chocolate egg that I saw at the beginning of our trip