One thing that I miss with Vienna's beautiful little 19th century ring system is the twisty-turny, throw-away-the-map-and-get-lost, hopeless abandon of the Italian streets. It totally fits with the culture of Italy; more is more, enjoy yourself, don't worry! have fun. They have a great sense of fun - even if not, as A.A Gill posited in the recent Vanity Fair, a great sense of humour - and you can definitely see that in their cobble-stone streets. They twist and they turn, they bend and they wind around, they spit you out at the end, hopelessly lost, right in front of something dangerous like a gelateria or a pasticceria, they drive you round the bend. Navigating is near impossible. Your only hope is to feel your way along by intuition - searching for a touristy spot? follow the crowds. After the must-visit refuge of the style crowd? Follow the well-dressed crowds. After the best little osteria in town? Follow the well-fed crowds. It's almost like a little game, the kind where even when you follow the instructions and the rules to the letter you still end up losing. It's like a puzzle with just one piece missing. I dont miss the frustration, the arguments, the turning the map upside down, the embarassed point-and-gesture conversations with locals, the retracing our steps, the generic hard cobble stones, the indecision, the confusion, the realisation that this street looks exactly the same as all the other streets in this town, but I do miss the streets, which is to say, I miss all of that, and more.
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