On Our Own

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Now that the tour is over, we had our first leisurely morning in quite a while. We met a really wonderful family from Australia at breakfast and enjoyed talking with them for quite a while. Eventually we checked out of our hotel and made our way to our Bed and Breakfast. As you may have heard, the driving in Rome is absolutely terrifying. We’ve heard that there is a car accident in Rome every 10 minutes, and we know that all lights and traffic signals are taken as mere suggestion, or more likely decoration. The first cab we hailed managed to hit another car pretty hard just pulling over to pick us up. Needless to say we did not get into that cab.

The owner of Central Rooms B & B, Lucy, greeted us warmly and made us feel right at home. We spent the rest of the time settling in and then exploring Rome by foot. While sitting by the Trevi fountain we discovered an interesting money making venture. We were watching a couple guys standing around looking into the water intently, when suddenly they would whip out long retractable metal poles from their pockets with magnets on the end. They were extracting all the 2 euro coins they could find. We were laughing, a little shocked, when an Italian man with only 1 visible tooth came up and started talking to us, apparently about them. He was talking in Italian, and continued to do so with little encouragement and certainly no reciprocation for a full 10 minutes. From the rude gestures (the only thing I could understand), we gathered that he did not approve of these young men. But then he whipped out a pole and swiftly pulled out a coin! He proceeded to reach into his pocket and show me a huge handful of 2 euro coins he had gathered, very proudly.

We visited the Spanish Steps in the evening, and learned a little more about Rome (or at least about being a tourist in Rome). First there was the rooftop restaurant overlooking the steps where you could enjoy a nice bowl of soup for 34 euros (about $51). Maybe tomorrow night. We were then offered roses by a man selling them on the steps. We said no no, really, but he insisted. A gift he said, for very beautiful girls. We took them unknowingly (but not without suspicion). After they were firmly in our hands and looking very nice he pestered dad for money, which he would not give. He then came back and snatched them away for us, not looking half so pleasant as he had at first. A few minutes later, the same thing happened again. I argued with the man considerably, pretty much yelling at him saying no they were not a gift and he was lying and that I would not take them. He never stopped smiling and really forced them upon me- there was nothing I could do. So Julia and I took them and ran. We moved as quickly as we could down a really busy street, just to see what he would do. Well that illegal immigrant moved pretty quickly himself. He caught up to us a few blocks later (we had slowed down from laughter) and demanded them back. No! we said, they had been a gift! Lovely gift, thank you very much, etc. He was really angry now and yanked them out of our hands. We had a good laugh and plan on running into a change room in Versace next time.

-Erica

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Comments

[Leslie Ann]

The Flower Girls
Loved your story. Wise and cheeky girls, you two. The setting and the incident have the makings of a great short story!