Terril's Tour -- Rome, Italy

It has long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things. 

~Leonardo da Vinci

My friend Terril contacted me at 7:11 Monday morning.

Terril - Hey!

Aimee -- Hello!

Terril -- you're heeere! Do you have any plans for today? I could come into Rome and meet you if you don't.

Aimee -- Come see me!

Terril -- What do you want to see? have you been to Rome before? I've got a few walking tours in my pocket.

Aimee -- Nope! This is my first day.

Terril -- YEAH! I am going to tour the shit out of you today! Let's meet at Flaminia Station then. The gates at Piazza del Popolo. Maybe around 10:15? Is that too early?

Aimee -- 10:15 is great. Flaminia Station it is! Ah! I'm so excited.

And Terril did indeed tour the shit out of me. We walked from 10:15 until about 15:30, stopping twice for coffee and once for a gelato (like proper Italians).

In case you were wondering, Terril is an old friend from Grand Junction. We studied theatre together at CMU, and I believe I was nineteen when I saw her last. But even though we attended the same school, pursuing the same degree and keeping the same friends, we hardly ever spoke. She was so damn talented and beautiful and vivacious that she intimidated the hell out of me. However, twenty-four year-old Aimee is much more confident than nineteen year-old Aimee, so I was nothing but ecstatic to catch-up with this greatly admired figure from my not-so-distant but still another world past.

Terril has so much energy. Oh my goodness. I generally tend to think that I have a lot of energy, but being around this dynamic, spirited woman makes my head spin. In the best way. She thinks quickly, speaks quickly, and always has interesting, thoughtful things to say that I try desperately to follow, but sometimes I get rather lost in the speed of things.

Concentrate. Don't get hit by the crazy vespa drivers. Concentrate. This is where Brutus killed Julius Caesar. Concentrate. Don't --

I couldn't have asked for a better introduction to Rome. Tidbits of history punctuated the captivating story of how my friend met and married the love of her life, and I appreciated that she encouraged me to be a tourist and took my picture in front of many of Rome's famous monuments.

Coliseum. Doing yoga in front of monuments like these makes me laugh because other tourists start taking pictures of me.

I call this "balancingtheasian-asnana"

Spanish Steps

More Coliseum

The Forum

Making my wish at the Trevi Fountain. The coin is thrown with the right hand over the left shoulder. It's bollocks and my wish didn't come true, but at least the money is collected every day and donated to the red cross. So I can feel good about that.

"You'll thank me later," she said with a smile (regarding all the pictures).

"I'll thank you now! This is fun. I never get to be a tourist."

The tour culminated around 15:30 with an invitation to an art gallery the next day and to visit her village of Calcata on Thursday.

The Tiber

In Piazza del Popolo

History carved into the columns

Roman road

The place where Julius Caesar was assassinated is now a cat shelter. I'm sure he would be pleased.

I walked back to Leonardo's from Piazza del Popolo with aching feet, overwhelmed senses, and a heightened awareness of just how small and insignificant I really am. I got horribly lost (concentrate, concentrate, concentrate), but managed to reach the flat just before 17:00.

wow... I just... I feel like someone showed me around the Shire. A magical land from my childhood about which I'd read and fantasized, but never dreamed I'd actually see. Just... wow.

Leonardo returned from work around six and after sharing stories from our days, we strolled across the parking lot to say hello to his mother and sister and to take his dog on a walk.

One of the stereotypes of Italian men is that they're chauvinistic ass-grabbers. Now, I've met many upstanding gentlemen on my trip, but I must say that Leonardo takes the cake for chivalry (not that it's a competition, or anything). He goes out of his way to open doors for me, steps out of the way so I can go first when we're walking down narrow sidewalks and is gracefully respectful. I always feel somewhat surprised and shy when receiving such deferential treatment, but it's something I definitely appreciate.

We ate tomatoes and rice and roasted chestnuts for dinner. We drank wine and talked about the tyranny of planning.

Preconceptions: I have only experienced incredibly respectful Italian men. Period.

Challenges: None today