Not even Mitch Miller would be able to follow the bouncing blue GPS dot in Italy, especially in Rome. Apologies to those born after 1955 for the reference to Mitch Miller. I am sure Jane Howard remembers him on TV with his cast of singers. Lyrics were displayed on the TV screen with a bouncing ball that led you through the words, pausing or speeding up to keep you in time with the music. As it turns out, Robert’s extensive research reveals that there was NO bouncing ball on Mitch Miller’s program. That might be good for Italy too.

GPS here is hit and miss. More miss that hit. Bonnie and Robert will set directions for a walk to a specific spot in Rome. Almost reach the point. Refresh the directions to be sure we are on the right track, only to see the dot flip 180 degrees in the direction they just walked. A “ten minute” walk often turns out to be 40 minutes.

And did we mention NOT to use iMap?! It is not able to keep up with the organic urban streets of Rome or even the countryside. In one instance, we stopped for lunch, selecting a place to eat via iMap. Looked great. Followed the directions and ended up at someone’s home. Robert called the restaurant and confirmed the street address. After looking at the restaurant’s website, Robert discovered that they are in Florence. We were in southern Italy. Google maps is a little bit better.

Waze is better, although it tends to forget at times that our eight-foot wide car may not be able to make a 90-degree turn into a nine-foot wide street with 12-inch curbs. Oh. And be sure to remember that if Waze is set in a British accent and tells you to take the second exit on a roundabout, the exit is actually the first. The American accent takes this into account. And as Carl Swirsding warned us, just because the voice says to turn right, it may be that you should take a left. Check the visuals first.