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And it had small wheels. My average speed was to be fifty miles per hour. I didn't trust it going faster than that. So I took my time and spent stupendous-long hours sitting on that conveyance.
This trip was to be pure experience. I had already tons of practice being a tourist, walking around for three years in the army, Louisville, DC and Athens. So I don't remember doing much touristing this first stay in Rome. Probably did some museums and the Vatican but don't remember. I had studied different perspectives, sitting, walking, staying in one place or moving place to place. Mostly I liked to sit in one place and watch the wonder go by. I had already learned that for proper appreciation you needed to be by yourself. Being with someone was a constant distraction, having to make conversation, see and hear what they see and hear, and really be half in
the sight-seeing reality and half in their world neither here nor there. I decided I didn't want to know the history of anything. I wanted to experience everything just as ambiance, shape, form, feeling, sound, sight, smell and taste.
Mostly I remember the Spanish Steps. Lots of people hung out there. Notable was one guy with a heavy New York accent, who said he was not from the US, but from Canada. And I said - "right". The Vietnam war was very unpopular in Europe and so many Americans, disassociating themselves from it, called themselves Canadians. Personally I thought it was kind of silly. America was not me. I was not in Vietnam. Why should I lie about myself for the sins of others. I suppose I looked at him like - let's get real here.
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