Return to Rome (Day One)
Back in 2011 I went back to Rome for three days of absolutely no plans other than to walk the city, eat food, shoot photos, and take in the city I first stepped foot into over 20 years ago in 1989 when I left the USA for a year of living abroad. I had been back to Rome several times since then but mostly on business and never really with the time to just take it all in at a slow pace and with no agenda. I had 72 hours to move throughout the city.
As we were landing at Fiumicino airport it was great to see again the Italian countryside by air — it’s such a different look than all other places — terra cotta roofs, green hills, and smoke rising from some of the farms where they’re burning cypress wood. Just after landing and picking up my luggage I started walking over to the “niente da dichiarare” door when a street clothed Italian cop pulled me over to ask me if I had anything to declare. I thought I’d have some fun straight away because the Italian are fun to mess with) and so I told him I was walking through the nothing to declare line — because I-had-nothing-to-declare. If I had had something to declare, I would have walked through the other line.
He wasn’t amused. He asked for my passport, looked at my name and asked if I spoke Italian. I told him I did. He asked “you carrying any cigarettes?” No. “Any alchohol?” No. “Nothing to declare?” I told him… “Te l’ho detto non ho…
