Besides the steps we walk, we go up and down countless curbs every day and some are as tall as small stairs.
More Rome tidbits:
The city used to be 40 feet lower
palm trees in town were imported from Arabia in the 8th century
In the city center, apartments run $7000-13,000 per square 10 feet. No central air and no window ones are allowed, no balconies usually. A parking space can cost thousands of dollars per year
We drove through an area of Rome called Parioni. Billionaires live there in these older looking apartments. (In Europe many apartments are owned). Tom and I said no way would we live there if we had that kind of money-4 lanes of traffic below your windows and probably no a/c etc.
Drove to a very small town named Orvieto. Four volcanoes occurred and this sits on top of one of them..
Required to leave the tour bus and ride public bus into town center. Very crowded and I sat by 3 young men. One is a tour bus driver from Ireland. I told him our O'Connell family history and he thought it was interesting. He's been to 29 countries this year! The other 2 guys had huge backpacks and are Australians. One said "we worked 2 years so decided it was time to travel." They've already been over here 6 months, covering several countries and all the Greek Islands.
We didn't bring our laptop this year, so I'm sorry we can't post pictures on here. You can always ask to have a particular one emailed to you if you're really interested in something.
Two funny stories from the same family on our tour:
Most hotel rooms in Europe have a toilet and a bidette. They are like an elongated toilet with a faucet and handles. Their boys had bought little rubber toys that you throw down and they go splat. She walked in front of the bathroom and they were washing them in the water in the bidette. One said "mom, this low sink is cool." She said "It isn't a sink" "So, what is it?" "I don't know!" Of course she did know and then she and husband came to us because of our travels and asked who uses them and we said "Not us!" They googled them and they said both sexes use them.
Then they went to get pizza and asked for a pepperoni pizza. Since waiter didn't speak very good English, he brought them a peppers only pizza! We've only seen pepperoni once anyway.
This family geocaches and found one in Florence. They want to teach us how to do it since we travel a lot, saying it should be a lot of fun. I told their 8 and 10 yr old boys if they get a signal in a canal in Venice, they may not jump in to find it. The 8 yr old said, "Oh, darn, Ev", with a big grin.
Visited the Duomo Di Orvieto cathedral. It had many different striped-like sections of bricks on outer walls and columns-unlike any we've seen.
Back onto the bus and driving through some of Tuscany. Rolling Hills, agricultural fields, solar panel farms. Grow grapes, olives, etc. An add says it takes 5,204 olives to make one gallon of olive oil. Reminded us of the Yakima Valley in Washington. Guide said some crops are so good here, but there is so much competition from neighboring countries that some farmers are using their land for the solar farms.
2-1/2 hour drive to the resort town of Montecatini on a typical good 4 land highway. Rolling Hills, brick houses, vineyards, cypress trees like you see in pictures or paintings of Italy. But also pines and various other trees along the highway. As we approach Florence, the Hills are forested. Passed a Gucci factory. Passed 10+ miles of tree farms, with a few rose bushes, also.
Africa and the Adriatic Sea are pushing against Italy, so there is a lot of underground activity, including spa areas with mineral water. People visit them for health reasons-both to sit in and to drink. Guide said it is even used to treat liver problems. People can often get prescriptions to us these "free". I believe it is probably part of that 50% income tax they pay! Just as the Danish get "free" medical care from their 50% income tax.
Starting to see the Appenine Mountains. Arrived at our hotel and our room was the only one not ready, as they needed to replace the air conditioning filter. Would we care for a complimentary cocktail while we wait? Sure, no plans anyway. It took them over an hour! Then we walked about an hour with the sweat rolling down our faces. 98 again. We ate at an Italian restaurant-what a concept! Tom had a small pizza and I had wide noodles with an asparagus sauce and about 6 little pcs of asparagus. Almost like asparagus soup.
Tom said it's no wonder Italians are known for their tempers. It seems no matter what they are talking about, it sounds like they're arguing. He thinks if you cut off their arms they wouldn't be able to talk.
While laying our clothes out for the next day we couldn't find 2 new pairs of shorts we had bought for Tom for the trip. $50 each-the most expensive ones ever. He said he must have put them in a drawer. We unpacked most things in Rome because everything was so damp from our timeshare week. We told the guide and he said, "No problem. Another of our tours will depart that hotel in the morning to arrive here so I will call the guide and she can bring them. This will save you about $60 for having them taken to the hotel in Rome where we will stay our last night!" So he called her, she talked to the front desk. They called housekeeping and the maid said nothing was left in the room. Guide said let's have the current guests in that room check for sure. Oh, but it is early and we cannot wake them. If they do not wake soon, my tour will be leaving." Somehow the current occupants were notified, they found the 2 pairs of shorts (and a pair of jeans!) in the drawer! She brought them and our guide walked to her hotel in Montecatini to get them, refusing to let us go get them. And he would not accept tips for he and her.
251 steps today.
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