When In Rome…

My family and I are in the middle of a three-week trip to Europe. We’ve never done anything like this before, and this year, we decided this might be the one and only chance we might get to do this. So, here we are, across the pond, with a little more than a week left before we head home.

We started in Munich, Germany, and are now in Bern, Switzerland. We still have Paris to go. But, in between Munich and Bern, we spent the better part of five days in a city that screams history and also just screams because it’s so busy and loud at all times of the day or night:

Rome.

There’s no other city like Rome. I don’t claim to know every inch and corner of the city, but I saw enough in the better part of five days there to come away with a pretty good impression of the city of Caesar, Mussolini and enough pizzerias to match every tourist on a one-to-one basis.

With that…Here’s what I’ve learned about Rome…

—It’s hot. Man, is it hot. I don’t know how the Romans built anything in the Roman heat.

—The drivers abide by whatever self-directed rules of the road they have ascribed to themselves. There’s a reason why nine out of every 10 cars here have a ding/dent/side-swipe mark.

—Along those lines…The crosswalk signals are for the weak. Red. Yellow. Green. Just run like a bat of of hell or you could be a hood ornament on someone’s Fiat.

—Every stereotype about Italians, especially the men, is 100% true. Yelling and wild hand gestures could either mean a fight is about to break out, or two guys are complimenting their mama’s carbonara.

—You will second-hand smoke at least one pack a day while here.

—There is so much graffiti that I am convinced that most buildings are structurally supported by multiple layers of spray paint.

—Rome really is old. And seeing the Colosseum, the Sistine Chapel and the Pantheon in person blows away any photos or videos of those places that were built 500, 1,000 or 2,000 years ago.

—I can’t speak for Rome’s McDonald’s. Never made it into one.