Street Vendors in Rome

There were the usual street vendors selling to tourists at all the major sites.  We were a bit surprised by the uniformity of what they were offering:  “Splat pigs” (requires a demo), camera tripods, scarves, and images of the historic sites in plastic cubes.  At one point all the vendors scooped up their wares and headed down the street.  Right behind them was a policeman casually strolling.  The cop reached the end of the walk and turned around and all the vendors returned immediately on his heals.  Not quite sure what his stroll accomplished.  David was purchasing a ‘splat pig’ for Delaney from a vendor the next day and almost got it for free when a cop car pulled up and the vendor ran for it…