Is it possible to fall off a Segway?

Yes.

We’ve had a relaxing few days. On Friday Lizzie went off on adventures while the rest of us sat - or semi-reclined - around the flat and read or looked at screens.

On Saturday, it was going to be another 36-degree day, so we thought we would head off to the cool of Villa Borghese Gardens. They weren’t so cool. In fact they were almost empty, because of the heat. We walked around the little lake with the temple and the rowboats, and ate some lunch. We found a puppet theater, and I know there is a full-size replica of the Globe Theater there somewhere (it’s a huge place) and I’d really like to look inside, but I don’t think we’ll see a play. The Tempest is on, but it’s in Italian. Maybe.

Finally, after walking past anything you had to pedal yourself, and therefore get even hotter, we found a guy renting out Segways at a cheaper price than I’ve ever seen anywhere. We decided to go for it. The guy wasn’t very friendly until we found out he was Egyptian, and then we had a lively conversation about how wonderful Egypt was, and he was very friendly and helpful. He gave us short lessons and made sure we could all stay upright.

Segways look really simple. They are really simple. The rule is: you should make sure your body stays on your Segway.

Here is how you drive. Going forward and backwards is easy - just lean forward or backwards. Steering is unlike anything else I’ve ever driven. On the left handlebar is a section that twists to the left and right. It’s like the way you accelerate on a motorbike, except that it’s only part of the handlebar. So going, stopping and steering are different from any kind of vehicle. Can you see what’s coming?

The little streets were quiet, with most of the other traffic being a variety of pedal-able vehicles, and a few Segways. I was doing great, and thought it was a breeze, when I realized that the bicycles coming toward me were in the right - we were in Italy and I should have been on the other side of the road.

The conditions leading to my unspectacular-and-non-injury-causing accident were:
I was on a sideways slope, since the road wasn’t flat.
I was going quite fast.
I turned the handlebar steering device too quickly.
The Segway turned sharply.
I did not turn at all.

They’re rotten to fall off, because the wheels are high, and you can’t jump off without completing a little hurdle. I was fine - just a mild knee graze. But oh the shame! The Segway took off by itself across the road and then stopped in the dirt. But a bit came off! When I realized it had only been held on by sticky tape, I didn’t feel so guilty. My concern was mostly that I couldn’t turn the thing back on. I pressed every button, turned every lever, used my angry face, but nothing helped.

My shame swelled as I had to walk around the park (stay on the asphalt!) DRAGGING my Segway along. Apparently that’s an amusing thing to see, judging by the faces of the people I passed. Hugo and Lizzie had gone off to get the guy as soon as it happened, (Rachel stayed at the accident site with the victim) and after I had dragged it a hundred meters or so, he turned up making the sound of an ambulance, made sure I was okay (Lizzie suspected he didn’t have insurance) and stuck his special key somewhere to get it going.

We were off again, but I didn’t really trust it after that. But - I kind of enjoyed falling off. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve noticed that I don’t like the idea of hurting myself. When you’re a kid, you don’t care - it’s part of playing. Falling off the Segway made me feel young - like I’d taken a risk and gone splat, and had a good laugh, and gotten back on. I liked it.

I hope I get a scar, but I don’t think I will - two days later there’s nothing there.

Yesterday, Lizzie set off on an adventure to the Appian Way, and the kids and I went to church. As we arrived, a girl got out of a taxi,and we got talking. She’s a lovely Australian, with an Italian dad, and her family owns a large fruit and vegetable store in Perth. After church I asked her where she was staying, and we discovered we were staying within fifty meters of each other! We hung out for the afternoon, and I did the free walk from the Spanish Steps with her at 5:30, then I made dinner for us all afterwards. Lizzie came home during dinner, after a great day which included the Catacombs.

This was the third time I’d completed the free walking tour, but yesterday two new things happened. First, just as we were about to enter the Church of St Ignatius (another unbelievably beautiful church) our guide said hello to two nuns who lived in the convent next door. One of them - whom I liked immediately - started talking to our group, and she asked people what religion they belonged to. She didn’t get to us - she was just waiting for someone to say “Protestant”. She praised the Protestants for several minutes for their superior knowledge of the Bible but then talked for a few more about how they
had really botched it by forgetting how important Mary was. She was lovely, but I think our tour guide was getting a bit antsy by the end of it. Yay - we met a nun in Rome! The tour guide said she gave his tour group - half of whom were Jewish - a similar talk last week.

The other interesting thing was very surprising. In this area of Rome, cars can only park on Sundays if they have a visible permit showing that they are permanent residents. Scooters, however, don’t need permits. The tour guide then pointed to a small car, about the size of a Smart car, and said it didn’t need a permit because it was a scooter.

We all said, “Ngh?” He explained that it has a 50 cc engine, and so it doesn’t need to be registered like a car does - it’s counted as a scooter. What’s really interesting is that you don’t need a license to drive one on the road AND fourteen-year-olds are allowed to drive them! They’re not allowed on the freeways, but they must be fantastic for zipping (what’s slower than zipping?) around the little streets. Hugo of course, asked if he could have one. At 11 or 12,000 euros, probably not.

All I can say for sure about today is that we’re taking our new friend from Perth to the restaurant we learned about on the walking tour last week, which has over 100 dishes. We went there a few nights ago. It’s a non-tourist place, so it’s a bargain and it has incredible food. Last time I had Spaghetti Alex - prawns, walnuts, parsley and walnut oil. Delicious.