When in Rome, park as the Romans park

From Florence we took the train to Rome. I am constantly amazed at the size of the country, so small. The ride from one major city to another is sometimes as short as three hours by train, less than the distance from Vancouver to Kelowna or Vernon. The train station in Rome is vast, 30 some odd platforms which stretch endlessly from the terminal towards their various destinations. We took the metro to our hotel. The metro at the terminal is a subterranean maze of one way staircases, dead ends and oversized escalators. After a sardine style ride we arrived at Piazza Barbarini, the nice central square which our hotel was on. Unfortunately due to the location of the piazza, the noise of the 6 roads which converged there continued strong into the early hours of the morning. There was also a rather unpleasant odour of human waste. Not much of an issue though, because we were rarely at our hotel. Rome offered us a myriad of sights, tastes, and experiences. In three days we checked off the ‘must sees’ of Rome: The Vatican, Trevi Fountain, Colosseum, Palatine hill, Spanish steps, the Forum, and more churches than I can name or remember. On one of our other days based in the eternal city we took a sojourn in a rented car to Anzio, and drove along the coast to the Roman port of Ostia. On foot and in the car one of the most striking features of the people of Rome is the way they drive and park. Motorscooters and motorbikes dip and weave through solid streams of traffic, narrowly avoiding fatal accidents and busses. I have decided to give three awards to the intrepid parkers of Rome.
First place goes to the man who decided that parking in the middle of a 4 lane road was a good idea. No flashers, no emergency, no smoke, just what seemed to be an honest attempt at a legitimate parking job.
Second place goes to the car parked on a corner, on the sidewalk, in a crosswalk, the wrong way on a one way street. This was also the only person I saw in Rome receive a ticket from the traffic police. Prior to this, I thought that any parking spot was fair game; on a corner, on a sidewalk, upside down, however you managed to stop your vehicle.
Third place is a tie to most of the other inhabitants of the city, those people parked on sidewalks, doublewide, and infront of clearly delimitated no stopping zones.
Bravo.
Roman food was quite good, but rather pricy. We had a hard time finding the small, cheap and delicious trattorias that are our usual haunts. We managed to stay well fed and afloat in a sea of house wine, and olive oil.
The last highlight of our time in Rome was going back to the Pensione where my father stayed for two months back in the 1960s (it is now an apartment building). It was fun seeing him awash in memories the whole time we walked around the city.