Roma: Public health care, traffic and noise

Yesterday I was feeling somewhat better so Elena and I hopped on a bus downtown and walked around for a few hours, grabbing a "proper" pizza in Trastevere. The weather was surprisingly nice as a warm, southern wind had blown into town. When we got back in the late afternoon my parents insisted that I go see a doctor, since my cough is still not great. So my dad and I walked about a quarter mile away to their doctor's office, which is inside a regular residential building.

The doctor checked out my lungs, said I seem not to have any pneumonia or bad bronchitis, but with the holidays coming up he prescribed some antibiotics "just in case." Before the visit started my father had explained that I am not a resident of Italy and thus have no health insurance. At the end of the visit, my father offered to pay for the visit, but the doctor said "don't worry about it, it's Christmas" and gave us the prescription in my dad's name. At the pharmacy we were given the choice of buying the branded version suggested by the doctor for a whopping €1.09, or the generic version for free. We splurged on the branded version. The comparison to our own health care system is stunning.

On the down side, Rome is riddled with traffic, and there is a ton of noise, at least in some parts (such as my parents' apartment). The bus back from downtown took an hour, a ride that normally takes at most half an hour. This is probably due to Christmas shopping, but traffic in general is pretty horrible around here -- though fortunately public transport is great. And I brought plenty of earplugs to combat the noise when I am sleeping...