Gayle Tales: My Top Five Observations in Rome

After reading my son's blog of his observations during his semester in Rome, I kept my eyes open and made a few observations of my own.

Here are my top 5 (in no particular order):

1. Italians love to smoke.

Or maybe I should say Romans since it might be more predominant in big cities. Everywhere you went, people were smoking. Young, old, men, women. There were cigarette butts littering the ground, and the scent of cigarette smoke in the air.

The warning "Smoke kills" is written on all packages of cigarettes, but it doesn't seem to matter.

2. Romans don't use leashes on their dogs.

If my dogs were with me in Rome, I think I would have a hard time walking them ON LEASH. Outdoor cafes with food dropped on the ground, cats, pigeons, busy streets with motorcycles, fast cars, alleyways, hordes of tourists - I wouldn't stand a chance of keeping my dogs focused.
If they were off-leash, they'd be dead!

This little dogs was following its owner (the lady in the coat) as she walked the streets. The dog would stop to sniff something then run to catch up. The owner seemed almost oblivious that the dog was there. She would cross streets and turn corners all without a backwards glance. One morning I watched a man with 3 greyhounds walking on the Via Veneto. He stepped into a cafe to get coffee without saying anything to the dogs and they just hung out on the sidewalk until he came back out. Not a word to the dogs, he just kept walking and they fell in step beside him! Incredible!
The BIG downside to this easygoing attitude is the owners don't even notice if the dog poops. Dog poop does NOT get picked up!

3. Beggars are everywhere.

There are plenty of beggars ALL OVER ROME.
Outside of churches seem to be popular spots.
Many of them were without hands or feet, and I couldn't help but wonder what had happened to them. Thinking back to the movie "Slumdog Millionaire" where acid was poured into the eyes of the children so they could make money begging, could it be possible that these poor men and women had once been whole?

4. There are probably as many statues in Rome as there are cats!

Everywhere you look there are statues. On fountains, on buildings, in parks and churches, and especially in museums. If you stopped to look at every statue in the Vatican Museums you would never come out. After a short time, they all start looking alike - except for the truly remarkable ones like Michaelangelo's David in Florence.

5. There may be more Japanese tourists than Roman statues and cats combined!

Ok, maybe it's because they're easy to recognize but they seem to be everywhere! Yes, they carried cameras, but I observed a few other traits during my stay in Rome.
- They dress for the weather. Not Roman weather, though. Maybe for the weather back in Japan.

It was 85 degrees and sunny and we were sitting in the shade eating gelato, and this large Japanese tour group walks by us with hats, coats, pants, socks, and walking shoes (or sandals with socks).
- In the same tour group, many of them had backpacks. Or I should say frontpacks since they were wearing them backwards and hugging them with their arms - most likely to guard against theft.

Seeing all of these Japanese tourists was also a blessing. My husband had so much fun and fit right in! He was so happy!