The Vehicles of Rome

"Thelma Senza Luise"  Combination of a car and a scooter. By LAC 68, Nomentana station. 

While scurrying from one Rome "destination" to another, it's easy to miss the cool stuff that's all around you: the beautifully designed manhole covers, a wall of graffiti that celebrates a neighborhood's politics and local hero, the tiny dogs that Romans favor, the woman who's feeding cats, trees trimmed so thoroughly you're sure they'll never grow back, one unbelievable mound of garbage after another. 

And the vehicles. Romans--and the tourists they sometimes revile--get around the Eternal City in a variety of (for the observer, anyway) entertaining ways. Here are a few we've seen over the years:

A very long delivery bicycle, 2016

Now there's a load. 2013

For transporting children. Via del Corso. 

For transporting tired dogs

This guy's delivering for Frutteria Aloise. The vehicle is a weird one--a scooter of sorts
with a wide platform, small wheels, and no seat (and no helmet required). 2017.

And here's a delivery guy taking his bicycle up from the Metro.

Looks like a waiter transporting garbage, but I'm open to other interpretations. 2015

Sicily. Man delivering melons in a crate. Photos of Toto and (apparently) JFK. 2016. 

        Delivery, and delivery vehicles, are important enough that there are paintings of the them.

via Quatro Venti, 2016

2016. Neo-futurism. Not in a gallery. 

The mail has to be delivered, too, and in Rome it's usually by scooter, rather than truck. 

Woman delivering the mail. San Paolo, Rome, 2016.

Rome is a dense city and many of the streets are narrow. So there are lots of small vehicles.

Small yellow car. Dianne at right. 2016.

Bill, wondering if it's safe to drive. 2010. Looks the door is made of canvas.

The Ape is a common delivery vehicle, especially in rural areas. 3 wheels.

2016

Big guy with small bike. 2016.

Unlike Los Angeles and other American cities, Rome has not yet been populated by food trucks. However, all kinds of items, from clothing to batteries, are sold out of cars and small trucks. 

Mondo Arancina. A 3-wheeler. The drawing on the side depicts an historic battle. 

Ladies' garments. 2016. 

Small delivery boy, 2016. Life is hard.

Common sight: Woman with grocery shopping cart. 2016.

Scooters and motorcycles are common in Rome, to say the least. There are about 1 million of them. Less common is a fallen scooter or motorcycle. This one is unusual, in that there's a note on it, written by a passer-by, that says who did it and gives the license number of the offending owner's vehicle. 

2018

Tourists relaxing on their Segways, the Quirinale, 2016.

A rental scooter. This one is a 3-wheeler (two in front). Safer, but not safe. 

A scary sight: tourists on red rental scooters, crossing the Ponte Sublicio, 2018. 

Rome's latest transport scourge is the E-scooter. 

Guy with dog collecting iron with cart in Pigneto. You can't do that with an e-scooter.

Delivery guy on E-scooter

E-scooters. Helmets were not required; they may be now.

Bill

(and from Dianne - if you haven't had enough, try searching for "scooter" in RST, and you'll see more than 150 posts; trucks, more than 50 - for a start)