Exploring Rome, final day

Last walk through Rome, mostly the part I know the best–Testaccio and Aventino.  Hot, humid, and we limited our excursions.

I wanted to show Kirk the Testaccio Market.  Must be over 50 stalls there–half of them serve food of all kinds (think “food court”) and the rest of the shops sell everything from pasta to cheese,  kids’ clothes to flowers, shoes to fine women’s clothes.  A bit of everything. Kirk loves caps–newsboy type.  So we found he wears size 60, and he found a great linen cap at the market.  

After lunch I ventured to one of my favorite haunts–the used clothing/dishes/book/furniture, etc. thrift store about 15 minutes from Anne’s apartment.  Several years ago I’d found some handmade boots there in my size for 10 Euros.  It’s an amazing shop, yet no air conditioning, so I spent a lot of time checking out the tea sets since they happened to be in front of the fan (!).  Yet, nothing caught my eye.  Fun place, though, and I recommend everyone check out thrift stores in Rome.

So a few things about life in Rome:

First off, the price of gas.  It varies a bit (just like in the US), but a rough estimate of the price is that it’s nearly $10/gallon.  The price per liter is 2,05.9 Euros per liter, so that’s about $2.25/liter, and there are just over four liters in a gallon, so be thankful that our gas is about a third of the cost.  It’s always been that way as far back as I can remember.

Another thing I noticed along the streets here in Rome is the large recycling/trash bins.  One sees these every few blocks and people can separate their trash/glass/paper.  There’s a huge recycling movement in Europe.

The cars…so many of them and so many brands I’ve never seen before.  Of course one sees tons of small cars (which is only practical) like Fiat, Smart, etc.  Other common cars are Peugeot, BMW, Opal, Mercedes, Alfa Romeo, VW, Audi, and even a few small Jeeps and Citroens.  But Skoda, Lancia, Dacia?  These were new to me.  One common issue with the cars is that those left outside to the elements are subject to Saharan dust.  I never knew that dust from the Sahara found its way to Europe, but it does.  

So Saharan sand is lifted from the ground by strong wind, carried to high altitudes, and transported around the world where it falls to earth with rain.  This Saharan dust covers cars and I noticed tons of car washes.  Dark colors really show the Saharan dust!

We walked to a nearby piazza for dinner–a light one of cheese, meat, focaccia, and beer.  At 7 pm these places are filled, but not for people eating dinner, but rather for those enjoying a happy hour, an after-work beer.  

Packing and getting ready for our 7:15 pick up tomorrow.  Off to Fiumicino! We change planes in Boston before heading to MSP.  It’s been an amazing adventure…