The Pearl Jam experience, part 1: "Why go" ... by bus?

Ninety-eight. That's how many Pearl Jam fans you can fit into a small Trieste city bus.

And not one solitary soul more. Trust me.

We decided to wing our transportation to the Pearl Jam concert Sunday night and picked up a bus downtown to the soccer stadium in the northern part of the city.

So Kate, Elizabeth and I squished ourselves into a bus that already was bursting with humanity. And it smelled like it too.

Fortunately I was taller than most of the other passengers, so their faces were in my armpits, not the other way around. Elizabeth was in the middle of the mass of people and too far from a rail or handle, so she was leaning on me. I had such a tight grip on Elizabeth's belt loop that I gave her a wedgie trying to support her.

Just arms and heads for as far as you could see. 

At each turn, I felt like there was a 50-50 chance that the weight of a dozen other people would push me right out of the door I was leaning against. I briefly considered that I might need to make a bargain with God to survive.

Are those keys in your pocket or are you just happy to be this close to me? 

Then at a stop, one poor non-Pearl Jam fan returning home with her groceries got out. But three more people got in. At that point, Elizabeth pointed out the occupancy numbers for the bus was 22 seated and 65 standing. I began counting. By my estimation, we were at least 11 over that, not counting kids and short people I couldn't see.

But with a collective sigh of relief from our fellow passengers, we made it.

Happy to have survived the trip. Happier still to pick up our tickets. 

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.