Things to know

OK, here are some things to know if you visit Rome.  There are no Wal-Mart type stores.  All of the stores sell only one type of thing…the pharmacies (Pharmacia) only sell drugs and drug supplies (no groceries, tobacco, candy, etc) and the stores are on about every other corner and all have the same sign, tobacco shops (tabacchi) sell smokes, lottery tickets, bus tickets (huh?) and a few odds and ends, leather shops sell leather products, etc.  Markets sell food (but not peanut butter!) and little else.  There is no such thing as one stop shopping.  In the vicinity of where we are staying there are about 200 restaurants (that is a conservative estimate) and hundreds of single purpose stores.  The stores are tiny by our standards.

Buses are everywhere and if we ever figure out where they go, we will use them. 

Traffic is awful.  It takes a strong stomach to drive here.  There don’t seem to be any rules, except stop at red lights and allow pedestrians to have the right of way.  Most corners don’t have stop signs, so it is every man for himself and the feint hearted will have to wait.  If I were to live my life over, I would buy stock in motor scooters and Smart cars…they are everywhere.  I don’t understand why more people don’t die on motor scooters…they weave in and out of traffic and the auto drivers just seem to expect that and don’t run them down.  Smart cars don’t parallel park, they just back straight into a half a spot.

The roads are very narrow, but that doesn’t slow anybody down.  Park wherever; there is hardly an inch between parallel parked cars.  I watched a guy park in a space waaaay too small…he just backed in until he hit the car behind , then hit the scooter in front, backed into the guy behind again and finally got about 80% into the space and turned off his engine.  Just about all of the cars in the city have some kind of dent.

Dining is expensive.  If you go to a nice ristorante, expect to pay 70 euro (about $90) for a dinner for two (plus tip).  At the other end of the dining scale are the Bars…yes you can buy a drink, but they mostly sell sandwiches (panini), salads, desserts, but are closed by dinner time.   There are also tratoria, tavalo caldo, and other moderately priced places, but I haven’t had a meal anywhere for less than 20 euro for the two of us and that was today’s lunch…two Panini, two waters, one coffee, and two dessert rolls at a really neat bar.

Most of the people here will try to help you, even if the language gets in the way.  They go out of their way to be polite.  It is a pleasure to listen to them talk, even when I have no idea what they are saying.  They seem to sing the words.