What I learned in Rome

It is a great feeling finally seeing something you have dreamed about for so long. Rome was, simply put, amazing. It was incredible to see the fountains, ruins, and city in general. I did take away a few specific things.

1) Rome is the city of the scooter. They are everywhere, without fail. Coming from America this was one of the craziest sights the city offered, but I loved it. Being a former scooter driver I have always longed for a city where they are both accepted and prevalent. (Everywhere seems very scooter friendly in Italy so far)

2) Despite number 1, Rome has the most insane driving I have ever seen. There are no traffic laws. Cars drive both ways on narrow streets, scooters weave through traffic and being a pedestrian is the most dangerous career path you can choose in the city. Someone told me the safest thing you can do is to try and cross the street with a Nun. The reason being, if traffic is going to stop for a pedestrian, Nuns have the best chance of halting it. If traffic doesn't stop for even a Nun, at least you have an escort to heaven.

3) There are much less of the ancient Roman ruins than I thought there would be. I cannot say I was disappointed, but with how much we talk about ancient Rome, you would expect there to be ruins everywhere. Sadly, most of the ancient ruins were torn down to be used for later construction or destroyed in the massive earthquake 1000+ years ago.

4) The bus system runs on a honor system. I paid to get on a bus, but yet so many didn't. Drivers don't check your tickets or care. You can just get on and off as you go without fail. This was the same in Florence. I could have just as easily walked onto the bus without buying a ticket. I think I am going to start testing this at some point to cut costs (sorry Mom). If caught I will try to play the stupid foreigner (only half wrong).

5) Water is cheap, everything else is expensive. A cheap meal is 10 Euros ($13). A bottle of water on average is 1 Euro, which is cheaper than in America, but a can of Coke is 2-2.50 Euros. In a restaurant a can of Coke is 4 Euro's, no refills. This is what makes Europeans so healthy. Cheap bottled water, expensive pop.

6) Italian women are beautiful. (Again, sorry Mom). I feel in love every city block. Not that American women are no beautiful, but I just kept getting stunned girl after girl. I don't want to leave! I have more countries to see though, but I think this is the measurement tool I will use to decide what country to work in.

7) Young Italian men all seem gay or metrosexual. Where in America we are so obsessed with manliness and masculinity, in Europe the men are not at all. Often it appeared the men put more time into their appearance than the women they were with. The styles of cloths they wear would flag you as gay or (possibly hipster) in the States almost immediately. Additionally, just their mannerisms tended to be more feminine. They also have great hair. I just couldn't keep up.

8) Italians are way nicer than I was led to expect. So far people have been very helpful, even though it is apparent I am a Foreigner with no knowledge of their language. The rude people you run into seem no more or less rude than plenty of Americans I have met who hate dealing with people who don't speak English.