Saturday, September 11, 2021: When in Rome, Don’t Get Hit by a Car
By Daniil Confalonieri
No, this wasn’t my first time in Rome. I'd been there several times before with my family. And honestly, I was expecting it to be a lot dirtier. I was really surprised how cleaned up it was. So I was happy when we arrived there in the morning. It was warm, the sky was blue, it was nice. And then I nearly got run over by a car. Basically, the city has gotten too big for those ancient roads. People there want to get somewhere and they want to get there fast. So often motorists don't look both ways before trying to merge or to cross somewhere. I was lucky, I was really lucky to manage to see this distracted driver in time. You’d think that with everybody driving manual transmission in Rome that they'd be more aware, but this driver was not. Like the rest of us, maybe he was on his phone. He was driving an expensive car probably with a speaker phone. You press a button and you can talk hands-free, but he definitely didn’t see me and Cristina when he came to a sudden stop in front of us. We were crossing the street to get to the Colosseum. Ironically, I’ve been to Colosseum a couple of times. That would have been a shame to die while visiting a site I’ve already seen. Now the Roman Forum. That would have been a different story. It was really incredible. I was so amazed how all those buildings are still standing like that. It's all there. They were surprisingly in really good shape. I’m not surprised, considering the Forum wasn’t excavated until 1803. Today, you can see some archaeological work still going and construction work trying to keep the buildings standing. I was so impressed standing on the Via Sacra, the same cobble-stoned path that Julius Caesar and Augustus took. I kind of felt the way maybe people might have felt centuries ago. I just stood there and took it all in. During our free time in the afternoon, we decided to go get some food. And after our morning tour, we did a little shopping. I didn’t buy anything but Cristina bought a few things. The Romans we met were nice. However, a lot of people think Italians are laid back, pleasant people. But in Rome, as my near accident earlier proved, people have to get somewhere quick. The three of us could have been hurt badly. Jarvis was with us, too. I think Romans are always in a rush, especially to make a living because there’s so many of them living in this small, ancient city. At lunch, the waiter brought us some drinks. He nearly tripped over a chair and spilled everything on his tray. Luckily, no one got splashed. Now, if we had ordered beers, I'd be angry. Just joking. That’s what I realized. It was crazy how busy people actually look there in Rome. They just had so many things going on, the streets were buzzing with activity, and the restaurants were full. Everyone was rushing around. Rome may have collapsed a thousand years ago, but you wouldn’t have noticed it on that day. Rome is a lot like Milan, with lots of people being extremely busy all the time. It relies a lot on a tourist and service industry. Romans would rather just get on with their day and do what they have to do. Some people like the elderly, people with more time on their hands, are genuinely friendly. We sat across from an older couple and talked with them at the McDonald's at the Spanish Steps. Now that was awesome. It was super fancy. It had marble counters, kiosks for ordering inside the restaurant, an espresso bar and several floors of seating. Now, that I would visit again.