Italy

Sunday afternoon in Rome

A Byrd

— 3 min read
Sunday afternoon in Rome
Villa Borghese, Rome.

On Sunday afternoon, we set off to explore Villa Borghese (a big park) and whatever else we saw along the way.

We meandered along a somewhat grimy river's edge...

We Google-translated this graffiti and then looked it up to find out more. It's a protest against Italy's compulsory "school-work alternation" program, in which high school students spend part of their time doing unpaid (we assume) work placements. In less than one year, these three teenage boys all died in separate workplace accidents while participating in the program.

Browsed in a Lego shop...

And a rubber duck shop...

Caught a glimpse of the famous Spanish Steps in the distance (we hadn't even realised this was where they were, and didn't go closer or get a photo!), went up some less touristy (and thus hopefully less pickpockety) steps nearby, then appreciated the late afternoon sunlight on the roofs of Rome...

And finally had a wander through Villa Borghese...

We'd read that weekend evenings around 6pm are a popular time for Italian families and couples to wander the streets and spend time together. This was borne out by all the groups we saw picnicking, couples canoodling on the street, etc! It was a lovely low-key way to see a bit more of Rome.

Most of all, we were delighted to return to our AirBnb with all of our personal belongings still in our possession, even though we had passed through the notorious Termini Station on a crowded Metro train. But then again, they'd now have a hard time getting near our family of hypervigilant paranoid ninjas with our decoy pocket contents, roving eyes of suspicion and front-worn, tightly hugged backpacks...

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