Rome Vespa tour

On my last evening before meeting my group, I had signed up for a Vintage Vespa tour.

The Vespa is the iconic scooter that is symbolic of Italy. The scooter you would picture near a fountain in Rome, with a dark handsome driver. Its name means Wasp.

However my driver was not a young hot guy, but an old guy who thought he was hot. Buddy, it’s not you that people are staring at, it’s your vintage Vespa!

I hopped on with Orazio and he showed me ancient baths, miles of the Aurelian walls around the city up a hill to a viewpoint, a church, homeless people, and one of the 2500 drinking fountains around the city. These were interesting but some of the least attractive sights of Rome.

After the Aventine Hill viewpoint (it was actually really scenic – one of the seven hills the ancient city was built on) I finally asked when we were going to see the Colosseum. And Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, etc, etc. He said “You want to see the Colisseum? Oh Lisa, you’re just one of those Americans who want to see the sites where everyone goes!” Well, there’s a reason everyone wants to see them…. I didn’t bother mentioning that I was neither Lisa nor American… “And the Trevi fountain, Lisa? It’s not even interesting, it’s only 250 years old.” Yes, but it’s spectacular!

After that we saw the typical Roman sights. The Colosseum, the Forum, the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps. It was surprising to me how close together most of these places were.

The best part was driving through narrow cobbled streets, lined with outdoor restaurants and crowded with people on a beautiful Saturday evening. I was so close to them I could almost have picked up a glass of wine from a table while the diners watched the Vespa in awe!