I liked Rome. Really. (But I like Florence better.) It’s loud, crazy, chaotic, unnerving if you’ve never been to a big city. It kind of reminded me of our first trip to New York years ago when you don’t know the city and everything works just a smidge differently than back home. Police sirens (sounding just like the movies) going on all the time, traffic just making up lanes (the white lines are just suggestions) and pushy people. Yowsers.
In general, it wasn’t difficult to navigate – except that the streets change names every block and you’re following the map and walking straight down a street and somehow end up at a 90-degree angle to where the map says you were. (Yes, even I, queen of navigation, managed to get turned around in Rome.) But we managed to randomly see a lot of Rome that way. 🙂
Weather wise – Geez. Lots of cold, lots of rain. Actually, the rain was welcome because it was warmer those days. Except for the part where I forgot to pack our umbrellas. (They were on the list!!) We ended up buying cheap ones at a souvenir shop and are praying they’ll last the trip since it’s raining every day in Florence too. But overall, it hasn’t been too bad. Pretty much like Dallas. I was just glad we decided against Milan and Venice this trip because there was snow up that way! But I was regretting not bringing my pretend-ugg boots almost from the first day. Warm toes are good. Strategy? Pick outside things for days with sun (but cold) and duck inside for things on rainy days. Worked just fine.
And for all you people telling me two days in Rome is enough, you obviously travel at a much more frenetic pace than we do. We were there for six days and I still didn’t see everything. And frankly could have spent several hours more at what we did see if my poor under-exercised, desk-jockey body could have kept up. But good excuse to come back!
I’m doing separate posts on our hotel, the food and the sites we saw. Just because I don’t like long posts. And yes, I’m sure I had more to say on this main post, but … we’re in Florence now and it’s pushing Rome out of my head. (Did I mention I like Florence? 🙂
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