There is something about the feeling of waking up in a European city that simply can't be beat.
At this moment, it's a few minutes before 7am in Rome. My hotel, the Hilton Cavalieri, sits on top of a hill that overlooks the entire city. The sun is not up yet, but the sky is just picking up some color, and lights of the city are sparkling below me. Off to the right over the trees I can just see the top of the dome of the Basilica di San Pietro in Vatican City. If you go up a couple of floors in the hotel (I'm on the 4th), the view of the Vatican and St. Peter's Cathedral is even more impressive. The Vatican is no more than a kilometer away, also situated on this hill overlooking Rome. I haven't been there yet, but you can be sure I will before I leave.
The door out to my room's small veranda is open, and the air is cool and fresh. You can hear the sound of Rome waking up, but there are also several birds singing outside. It's an experience I can recommend.
Rome is definitely a city to experience -- the sounds, the sights, the smells. Everything you've heard about it (if you haven't been here) is true. For example, it's very true that the Italian people like to express their creativity when they drive. As we've discovered, traffic laws are guidelines -- suggestions merely. For example, a red traffic light is a "suggestion" to stop. Maybe you'll heed that suggestion, maybe you won't. The dotted lines that represent lanes? Not a bad idea, but a little restrictive. Why confine yourself to one lane or the other when you can fit three or four cars across the width of the road? And I have yet to discover if there are actually speed limits on any of the streets.
To get the full of experience of driving in Rome, catch a taxi going anywhere. You may feel afterward that rollercoasters are a tame and insipid way to spend your time. In one cab we got into I started to put on my seatbelt before my driver gently reprimanded me. And he was right of course. First of all, why would any policeman fine you for such a petty violation? And second, why would you want to restrict yourself? Life in Italy is meant to be experienced with all of your senses fully awakened. When driving that means the heightened sensation of the buildings and passengers racing by at breakneck speed.
It's also true that there are scooters everywhere. When I say everywhere, I mean everywhere. You pull up to a stoplight (on those occasions when you actually do stop), and the scooters all move to the front, weaving in and around the cars as they jockey for position. At one light we must have counted at least 30 scooters dodging the cars and lining up toward the front. Picture a jar with 4 or 5 good size stones in it; now start to pour in some gravel and watch it settle to the bottom in and around the rocks.
That's what it was like. The cars at the light were packed in and surrounded by the scooters so that every possible inch of the road was occupied. And when you're driving down the road, it's much the same with scooters weaving in and around the vehicles, everyone moving in a completely random but also completely fluid way. You'd think there would be more accidents, but our driver (the one who advised me against the seatbelt) said that they're rare. Accidents, that is. To me it was kind of magic -- perhaps not unlike that "magic" feeling of seeing your life flash before your eyes.
Where there aren't cars and scooters, there are people. You walk around the cobblestone roads of the city center and people surround you. The streets seemed filled all the time, every hour of the day and evening. God help you if you're in a little car driving through one of the narrow roads and you're in anything like a hurry. Tiny gelato cafes occupy every corner and people spill out them continuously. In the piazzi (okay, plazzas), restaurants and cafes all put their chairs outside and they are all filled. The sound is of voices, the general chatter of humanity. And it's not sotto voce, believe me. Everyone eating, drinking an espresso or glass of wine, passing the time.
The food itself can vary. We went to one restaurant that was okay, not spectactular, and we went to another where both the food and the wine were excellent. Italian wine can very good, which was a discovery for me. In California, it seems, most of the Italian wine we get is Pinot Grigio or Chianti, and most of it pretty mediocre. As it turns out, in a country where wine has been made for several thousand years, there are a few winemakers who know a thing or two about the craft. In addition to cafes and restaurants, there are little pizzarias and tiny walkup panini places where for 3 or 4 euros you can grab a fresh tomato and mozzarella sandwich on foccacia for a quick meal. I've had very, very good Italian food in San Francisco, and I've worked in some of the top restaurants in the Bay Area, a place known as one of best -- if not THE best -- restaurant areas in the world. So I can be a little critical when it comes to food. But there is one quality that the restaurants in Rome all have in common that no restaurant in San Francisco can claim: they're in Rome.
The sun is now fully up. A little while ago the bells of a nearby church where ringing, peacefully announcing the day. Did I already say that there's something about the feeling of waking up in Europe?
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