A Party

Thursday afternoon I climbed the steep and treacherous hill to Carol and Barbara’s apartment, with its rooftop terrace and panoramic views from every window, to confirm our Saturday departure time for Firenze. They welcomed me in and we climbed myriad stairs to the living room. We agreed on a time for departure and they reported that, rather than taking the bus to the Camucia station, their landlord had arranged for a taxi. I also had a proposal to put to them and I wanted them to have time to discuss it in private before they gave me their answer Saturday. I would love to see Rome; the Vatican, the coliseum, anything and everything, and since they were going next week I proposed to meet them there and join them for some sightseeing. I didn’t, however, want them to feel obligated to include me on their vacation, and was surprised when they agreed immediately.

I will take a train to the Roma, which is a straight shot from here in Camucia, and meet them at the Termini station near the book store on Wednesday, October 29. They will be taking a train from Assisi the same day. They are staying near the Pantheon so I will attempt to book a hotel in the same general area. I booked a tour of the Vatican for $70, the same tour on which Carol is booked and which Barbara later booked when her “after hours” tour fell through. It is expensive; however it is a 3 hour tour which enables us to skip the long (2 hours) wait in line for entrance to the Vatican. I am very excited about this big adventure and very appreciative that these ladies are willing to include me as it is just not something I would do alone.

The three of us walked to via Nazionale for an aperativi (before dinner drink) and encountered Perry who said, “I was just looking for you.” The previous week we had discussed getting together for my birthday with Michael and Terri. Since Michael was leaving for a vacation home to England the next day, tonight was the night. Carol and Barbara were invited to join us at Fuflun’s at 8:00 for the festivities. After a lovely glass of Chardonnay, I ran home to clean up and change clothes before dinner. I actually arrived at Fuflun’s ahead of everyone else, but since Terri had the foresight to make a reservation it wasn’t a problem. In due course everyone joined us and I was surprised to be gifted with a magnet of Cortona, a cute little bowl decorated with a sunflower and a spout for an olive oil bottle. Such lovely gifts!

Appetizers’, salads, and plates of pasta were ordered, my old favorite tagliatelle al ragu’ for me. Several bottles of red wine were requested and the conversations became louder and more boisterous as the level on the wine bottles declined. I would say we were fairly obnoxious by the end of dinner, but having a blast all the same. We adjourned to a local bar after dinner and my companions had mixed drinks while I stuck to a small coffee with a shot of Bailey’s Irish Cream. A friend of Michael’s, who is also intuitive like Carol, joined us and he and Carol engaged in some mutual, alcohol-fueled intuitive readings. She expanded my reading to inform me that in addition to a “big rock”, I would be leaving in a house near a lake with the balding attorney, who is also overweight, and we would be losing weight together. About this time, I am visualizing a short, portly, neurotic man like George in the Seinfeld TV series. Carol quickly corrected me, “He’s a NICE man.”, she stated.

After closing that bar, we walked to the head of via Nazionale to the Route 66 disco where we met an American woman traveling alone. She shared her bottle of wine with us and another bottle was ordered. She has done something similar to what I’ve done, quit her job and run off to Europe. She was very thin and pretty, with long, red hair and the two men in our group quickly refocused their attention on her, one of them saying, “You have beautiful hair.” I will say that she did not seem particularly interested in either man and was more interested to sitting with the women of the group. What is it with men? They are swayed by every pretty face that passes by. I am not at all secure of my ability to hold any man’s attention for the long term as I am sure their eyes will follow every slim, pretty woman who walks past. Oh well.

Route 66 closed about 30 minutes after our arrival, by which time it was 2 AM. We all headed our separate ways with the exception of Terri and Perry who escaped to Perry’s to finish the last bottle of wine. They later told me they stayed up until 7:30 AM. Subsequent encounters with them in the following days showed two weary people with red-rimmed eyes. It was a great party!