14 September 2010

Roman Holiday

The Secret Blog is in Rome, half to attend a conference and half on holiday with the Secret Wife.  (This academic life is kind of a blast).

Anyway, following on ten things about Montreal, here are ten things about Rome:

1.  When it comes to the Internet, Rome is still in the 20th Century.
2.  Paris and London are modern cities.  Rome and Venice are not.
3.  Rome, on the other hand, is cheaper than Paris or London.
4.  Romans really are garrulous, at least with each other.
5.  If I lived in Rome, I, too, would seriously consider a motor scooter.  Parking in Rome is about as organized as hide and seek at a child's birthday party.
6.  It is just incredibly hard for Americans not to tip.
7.  Historic Rome is surprisingly small, accessible and walkable.
8.  The Piazza Novanno (shown in the video) is beautiful and in all ways excellent.  A good day would be to sit in the shade at one of the many trattoria, watching the pretty women and art that fill the Piazza, drinking cup after cup of Italian coffee.
9.  There is a larger and more obvious police presence in Rome than in any American city.
10. English pops up everywhere, and not just in ways meant for tourists.

5 comments:

erp said...

Do you mean Italians are speaking to each other in English?

PJ said...

erp - Reminds me of the food at Japanese baseball stadiums. Ice-eh kareemoo, Hotta doggeroo.

David said...

erp:

Yes, and not just speaking. Random signage that doesn't seem to have anything to do with tourists is also in English. My favorite example was a sign along the highway to Rome from the airport: "20 Ectares for sale." There were also lots of business names in English: Edible Arrangements, Media World, Toyota, etc.

Harry Eagar said...

Toyota?

erp said...

Italian plurals don't have an 's' at the end, so that, to me, was the most amusing thing in your example.

Cute pup. Is that a recent addition?