Cab Ride in Rome

We had a wild ride to the airport in Rome. We had originally thought about taking the Express Train to the airport. Then we found out it was cheaper for 6 of us to take a taxi. The landlord at the apartment arranged for the taxi and told us when to be ready. We were excited to have it taken care of and for less than we had anticipated paying.

We went to the street at the appointed time and found the mini-van waiting for us but it was smaller than a mini-van (a micro-van?). After Seth's surgery we bought a wheel chair to help get him around Rome and through the airport to India. After putting the wheel chair in the micro-van there was almost no room left for our other baggage. We were able to get it all in but it seemed like there were backpacks everywhere and there pretty much were. I had 1 long-ways on my lap/chest and there was even one between the driver and me that made shifting gears tricky.

Once we were in and all able to close the doors, he pulled away from the curb. A few blocks later, just past the Coliseum, a driver from a side street rolled the nose of his car into our lane apparently without looking. Our driver beeped the horn hoping that the other driver would hear us, see us, and stop. It didn't work. The other car just kept rolling into our lane. Just at the last possible instant our driver swerved away from the other car, nearly into a wall and opposing traffic, and slammed on the breaks. It was all he could have done. Finally the other driver noticed and stopped without any hint of alarm or remorse. I was scared but it turned out ok.

A few blocks later we were waiting at an intersection when we started hearing chants over a megaphone. We looked around and there were a couple hundred students protesting something and walking up the street towards us from behind. They looked peaceful enough but nonetheless I prayed that the light would change so that we wouldn't be impeded or harmed by the protesters. There was another small group of protesters a few blocks later.

In Rome taxis can drive on the same part of the road as the trams use. One section was a two-lane road and it had a broken down tram on it blocking 1 of the 2 lanes. Because of the traffic flow and where it was blocking in relation to the intersection it could have been really tricky to get through had the timing been different.

We eventually made it to the airport safely but for a few minutes there I wasn't confident we would.