(another in a series of random, non-chronological tale telling) 

The ragged flag flying alone before those old shutters caught my eye while we sat and ate our lunch purchased from a small shop in Rome. Our feet were killing us. Ok me, mostly.  I noticed it wasn't just me though.  A lady was walking holding her sandals, wincing as she went. If I hadn't been so freaked about the germs and sharp objects that amass after millions of feet walk over pavement I might have been tempted. 

Shortly before our break we had been walking down this street lined with vendors hawking their goods.  In a split second a crowd came running at us like a scene from a zombie apocolypse movie. They darted around the corner before they reached us.  There had been a scare that inspectors were coming around to check for licenses. It's nothing short of amazing how quickly those tablecloths can be gathered up…. and laid back out again as though nothing occurred.  

And really nothing did.  Nothing out of the ordinary.  In moments all was calm.  People went on shopping.  We went on eating.  And a wedding carried on at the end of the street.  

Life in old Rome.