A million ways not to walk in Rome

Now that my luggage has arrived and I am in a slightly less irritable mood, it's time to begin blogging for real. We walked around Villa Borghese on Wednesday morning before visiting the Galleria Borghese museum in the afternoon.

Being a big fan of people watching, I was struck by just how many different modes of transportation are available to traverse the public park's 148 acres. Most of these are aimed at tourists of course, and there seem to be plenty of people willing to pay.

These electronic touring carts were quite popular. The pedals seem to connect to a motor. A few drivers didn't seem to have the proper "licensing", leading to a lot of apologetic waves from their parents. 

A pair of tourists using Segways and a trio of ladies in a touring cart. 

Are these Go-Karts? There were one and two person varieties. This vendor also rented bikes. 

OK, you technically can't rent these. But the police do make rounds on horseback.

Personally, I think this young man worked out the best deal. 

Our party of five opted for the least tech savvy mode: walking. Thanks to one of Ryan's "shortcuts," I think we covered nearly every acre of the park, particularly all of the muddy ones.

Kate, Jackie and Tom in sunnier times at Villa Borghese. 

Segway tours also were available at The Colosseum (Rome appears to be a big Segway market). I captured this shot from the facility's upper level; it was one of two Segway tours wrapping up at the time. The idea is a little too futuristic and weird for me. Any minute now, I expect these drones to arrest me for using my brain to form independent thoughts.

Segway tour group zipping around the Colosseum on Tuesday. 

Ryan and Elizabeth and the Philosophers' Heads

Our first full day in Rome featured the classics -- the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, one of the museums featuring Michelangelo's work.

We posed with emperors.

Elizabeth Caesar Aurelius the Great. 

We impersonated philosophers. (Elizabeth's idea).

The occasional thinker.  

And when in Rome, we did as the Romans have done for centuries. Elizabeth, my sister Kate, my parents and I walked in the footsteps of millions of who marveled at the construction of buildings that have stood for millennia despite the weather, earthquakes, fires, gravity and the pillaging of marble and iron by citizens.  

At Camden Yards' ancestor. 

I sipped my first espresso (at 4 p.m.), which could explain why I'm still up at 1 a.m. Rome time working on a post. Seriously, what do they put in that stuff?

Little cup, big kick. 

And Elizabeth had the most freshly squeezed orange juice ever. The barista tossed three oranges into what Elizabeth aptly described as a pitching machine. And out came pure OJ.

The juice -- with its maker in the background.

And all this was just Day 1. The one disappointment of the day was that we failed to get a picture of the soccer playing dog. Yes, Italy takes its football that seriously.

As we were walking to the subway from dinner, we saw a young student kicking a soccer ball. And from behind a statue what looked like a Corgi mix was running off with it, pushing it with its chest. His master -- still in a suit from work -- was laughing and playing along with the dog and the child. Alas, by the time we got the camera out, the show was over. We'll do better next time.