Rome by Scooter

 
 
 

Vocabulary

offer	sight (2)	archeological
guide	take in	inside-out (2)
tour	highlight	Colosseum
noise	basilica	excavation
hill	combine	square (3)
era	by foot	impression
statue	ancient	sculpture
forget	replica	sightseeing
lovely	dialogue	Middle Ages
stone	ongoing	extraordinary
site	scooter	throw/threw/thrown
forum	fountain	a stone’s throw away
reach	area (3)	in the days of
Piazza	original	architecture
local	fantastic	spend/spent/spent (2)

 
 
 
 
 

Video: Rome by Scooter

 
 
 
 

Transcript

It’s hard to see all the sights that Rome has to offer. But what better way to get an idea of two-thousand (2,000) years of history than on a scooter.

Art historian, Valerio Vernesi knows the city inside-out.

Valerio Vernesi, City Guide: “Okay, let’s go.”

His tour takes in the most famous highlights, such as the Colosseum.

Riding in Rome on my Vespa, I think of two things: one, how nice the noise of the Vespa is. And two, how many lovely places there are here. I go past Castel Sant’Angelo, Saint Peter’s, the streets and all the fountains . . . I think Rome is fantastic!”

Next stop is the Capitoline hill, which combines centuries of cultural history in a small area.

Valerio Vernesi, City Guide: “This is the Piazza Dicapidorio, where different eras meet: there’s the Michelangelo Era, Ancient Rome with the statue of Marcus Aurelius. These two big sculptures are replicas of the ancient Greek originals.

And let’s not forget the beautiful basilica of Santa Maria na de Cuello from the Middle Ages.

These eras are in dialogue with each other, and that’s what makes this city so extraordinary.”

Just a stone’s throw away is the Roman Forum, an important archeological site where excavations are ongoing. It gives us an impression of what the city was like in the days of Julius Caesar

Much of the city center is closed to traffic, even to Vespas. One place easier to reach on foot is the Travi Fountain.

Tourist One: “I wanted to go to a place that had rich history . . . good food . . . lots of sights to see.”

Tourist Two: “It’s a very nice city just to walk around in. It’s a great place to go shopping, you can see the fountain.”

Tourist Three: “The architecture and the history, it’s just very beautiful.”

After a long day of sightseeing, what could be nicer than spending the evening on one of Rome’s beautiful squares, like Piazza Navona, popular with locals and tourists alike?

 

 

Questions

1. The city of Rome consists mostly of modern skyscrapers, office buildings and apartment blocks. True or false?

2. Is Valerio Vernesi a tour bus guide?

3. Rome’s architecture is all from the Renaissance (about 1300 to 1600). Is this right or wrong?

4. “These eras are in dialogue with each other, and that’s what makes this city so extraordinary.” What does this mean?

5. Do archeologists, scholars, historians already know everything about Rome, or are they still learning more?

6. How do tourists feel about Rome? Do they like or dislike it?

7. Tourists only take pictures of the sights of Rome. Is this correct or incorrect?

 

A. Are you from Rome? Do you live in Rome? Have you been to Rome? What about your friends? What was it like?

B. Is Rome similar to or different from your city?

C. Are scooters common in your town or city? How do people commute or travel?

D. My friends and I would like to live in Rome. Yes or no?

E. What might happen to Rome in the future?