Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Rome in mid-August, Aperol spritz and no traffic.

Yesterday my friend A. rode past my apartment and yelled from the street,"Come down and let's go for a ride." She had just finished a scooter tour. She had a gorgeous white Vespa and an extra helmet.

Since it was 6:30 ish and I'd been working all day, I thought why not being spontaneous? I changed, put on a scarf and off we went.

It was SURREAL. There was no traffic on Lungotevere, the main street that runs along the river. During rush hour, it's stand still traffic.

Yesterday? Niente, nada, nothing.

We couldn't believe it. Rome has really emptied out (except for the tourists.)

After zipping around the Aventine Hill, we went to a bar on the Gianicolo hill.

Aperol spritz, a perfect summer drink.


Rush hour traffic yesterday.

19 comments:

Gil said...

Great photo!

Kim B. said...

awesome!!! and love her helmet! and so cool that she has an extra one for impromptu friend rides!

Sara, Ms Adventures in Italy said...

Yes, there are some benefits to being alone in big Italian cities in August! It's taking me like 10 minutes less to get to work in the morning... :)

Diana Strinati Baur said...

awesome!!! (oh, kim already said that...!) Love it. Two cool chicks on a vespa in summer in rome.

Ci vediamo fra presto cara :)

Diana Strinati Baur said...

.... or would that be fra poco? Yeah I think fra poco is right.

regina di roma said...

so true...I can hear every time the cashier scans an item at the supermarket five floors down, across the street and one block over! Note to self, next year When in Rome,

LEAVE as the Romans do!

erin said...

this post made me smile. the scarf, the helmet, the drink, and the photos :)

glamah16 said...

It always amazes me how European cities clear out in August. Who minds the store. Wish Chicago would clear out. LOL!

nyc/caribbean ragazza said...

gil - grazie!

kimb - it was fun to get out of the house.

sara - and less pollution. woot.

diana - Yes I think fra poco (or is it tra poco?) is correct. Allora, non vedo l'ora.

regina - we'll see what happens next year. I might have to get out if only because of the killer heat.

erin - It was a great last minute thing to do.

glamah16 - you know that would never happen in the States. ha.

Unless the store caters to tourists (or is a pharmacy...they rotate closing weeks) no one is minding the store because the store is closed.

Monie said...

Hi nyc/caribbean ragazza,

It's too bad Americans don't follow European ways of doing things. If we did we wouldn't be having this health-care (non) debate now and we would all be on 'holiday'!

nyc/caribbean ragazza said...

monie - seriously. Americans take less vacation days than any other industrialized nations. No wonder we are so stressed out!

Lenoxave said...

The open road? What could be better in the summer? Sounds like you had a good time.

Jen said...

Going back to you and Monie - yeah, and if we were less stressed out, we'd need less healthcare! So it's all win-win if we could follow European ways.

Sounds like a great evening. What is an Aperol spritz? My fave summer aperitif was always campari/soda.

nyc/caribbean ragazza said...

lenox ave - we'll get to enjoy this quiet for two more weeks then it's back to crazy traffic.

jen - I agree. To me that's a no brainer but I don't see the culture changing any time some. An Aperol spritz is similar to Campari and soda but less bitter. Also it's made with prosecco.

Audra said...

Whee! That sounds like fun.
Bonus points for the American helmet!

Valerie said...

Ooooh, a scooter and a deserted Lungotevere...close to heaven!

I love that bar up at the top of the Gianicolo, great views!

nyc/caribbean ragazza said...

adf - it was fun.

valerie - the traffic was starting to pick up again on Monday. Those quiet days are over until the next big holiday!

Irene of American in Padua said...

I can't believe you are drinking Aperol spritz in Rome. When did it get hip there? It's old school in Veneto but I saw the TG5 raving about it in Jesolo as if they had never heard of the drink!

nyc/caribbean ragazza said...

Irene - not sure when it became hip. Last summer, maybe?