After an amazing time in Madrid we had even higher expectations for Rome, the next and final stop in our cities trip.  I’d visited Rome in 2007 and it had been one of my favourite cities during a six month backpacking trip around Europe.  I was excited to finally show Richard around it.  Unfortunately from the get-go we had a rather South America-esque experience in Rome.  Arriving in Rome’s Ciampino airport after a rather horrible flight with cattle-herders Ryan Air we quickly found out that Italian driving is just as bad as the driving we witnessed in South America.  Barely 5 minutes into the 20 minute bus ride to the city we witnessed our first car accident.  A scooter came sliding across the intersection at high speed. We didn’t see the why or how but there was a car parked by the side-rail and the scooter driver was trapped underneath the car.  The bus driver pulled over and he and Richard ran out.  With the help of a couple of other bystanders they lifted up the car and pulled the man under the car out.  Blood was everywhere.  The ambulance and police were on the scene in a matter of minutes and the scooter driver was well looked after, but we did wonder for days and weeks afterwards if he came out of it all okay. Continue reading →