Oh my god, I LOVE Vespas! They are the cutest looking bikes around. Unfortunately I've never ridden one, nor will I be able to for as long as I'm associated with my parents. My dad thinks a BICYCLE is a 'death trap', so a Vespa was apparently out of the question. I guess seeing as I'm studying in London he's right, it'd be dangerous for me. However, it'd be so cool to have one - especially in Rome, like you said, where that's pretty much the way to travel over there. //siiiigh.
"Travel" is a very loose definition of a Vespas main function in Rome or even Paris. They are thrown around traffic circles in a "Demolition Derby" fashion at full speed, sometimes twice, from missing "fly off" streets. Before zipping off, weaving between cars, for the next circle on the Grand Prix tour. Don't know your Father, but he's right. In London also, as soon as you buy your Vespa, make an appointment with Public Health to set aside a bed, as you'll be checking in shortly!.
Scooters are very popular here in Puerto Rico. But here they are just conduits for music systems. When you hear them on the street (because you hear them long before you see them) they are festooned with speakers from every available surface growing like strange corals. Like this:
Hahaha that's adorable, Wrey. I've always wanted a Vespa. But I don't know how well it would be able to handle the drive to and from work here, since we live up on a mountain, and I work down in a valley.
I didn't find the traffic in Rome that bad. It was a little faster than here in the UK but I actually found the drivers more considerate, especially when you make mistakes! In the UK you would get a loud honk and a waving fist for the most minor infringement of the ''rules". I was pleasantly surprised by the etiquette as I'd heard it would be a nightmare.
I love doing this on trains; I always feel like a little rebel putting my feet up on the seats. So comfy. You'd think I was 13 or something.
Walking is the best. But trains are quite good, definitely prefer trains to say cars/coaches/planes/ferries. Also, cycling is good if it's down country lanes - I don't like cycling on a main road.