Expat Adventures
by Annie Ojile
Just some good-looking Italian men gearing up for a tour. All photos by Nicolee Drake.
A few months ago in Italy, Fathom founder Pavia Rosati sat on the back of a Vespa for a very Dolce Vita tour of Rome with Scooteroma founder Annie Ojile. The Scooter Maven’s love of Rome is contagious, and a fast friendship was born, and we wanted to know more. About how she fell in love with Italy, how she made a career on two wheels, and became the ultimate concierge on two wheels.
ROME – I’m am Italian-American Minnesotan who studied in Milan and fell madly in love with Italy — the language, the culture, and the people. (I did not, like so many other women who come to Italy, initially fall in love with a man, or else my love affair with Italy wouldn’t have lasted very long.) I moved back to the United States and kept my dream of moving to Italy tucked away, promising myself «One day I’m going to do it.»
And one day, I did. And two years after moving to Rome, I drove my first motorino during Friday rush hour. I thought that if I could survive that I could have a future on two wheels, and it was only a matter of time before I was leading Vespa tours of Rome and my travel company Scooteroma was born and I christened myself «the Scooter Maven.» But even the Maven is humbled every time she rides around the Colosseum.
One hot summer day years later, walking into a hotel to pick up clients for a Vespa tour, I met Giovanni Nerone. He had spent his entire career in the tourism and hospitality industry, as head concierge at Rome’s five-star Exedra Hotel and Hotel de Russie. He saw the stars-and-stripes helmet that is always tucked under my arm when I go on foot and asked me where I was from. I proudly told him I was from Minessota and he asked me, «Can you tell me how Jesse ‘The Body’ Ventura was elected governor?» I thought this guy must be smart. (He is: The smartest person I know, he reads three newspapers a day in three different languages.)
Our first date was a Bruce Springsteen concert in Rome. At midnight, I turned 34 and in early 2011, we got married and merged our expertise, Giovanni becoming the Mr. G to my Maven. We are so proud of what we have created, giving our clients an American sensibility with Italian flair. Clearly I’m biased but I think there is no better way to experience the beautiful, exciting, and outrageous daily happenings in Rome than on two wheels.
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Even waiting at a stoplight is more fun on a Vespa. Who wouldn’t want to belong to the Vespa Motor Club of Rome? Giovanni, a.k.a. Mr. G., husband to Annie, a.k.a. the Scooter Maven. The Queen of all roads, the Appian Way, is one of the oldest roads in the world. There’s always time for a pit stop for a caffé, croissant, or gelato. Mr. G and the Scooter Maven with clients on the Appian Way. The proper way to drink from a nasone. Roman guys just look so cool. Especially with their vintage wheels. You’d smile too if you had Annie’s job. A gorgeous sunset view from Gianicolo Hill. Cruising along a beautiful, tree-lined street to Gianicolo Hill. The Scooter Maven is from Minnesota, and she wears her stars and stripes helmet with pride. An action shot on a group ride. Scootering up to St. Peter’s Basilica. Scooteroma street shot! Driver Valerio and the Scooter Maven lead the way. The countryside in the center of the city: You can even spot some sheep grazing in the fields. Yes, this is Rome, too. Scooteroma takes you to the places you’d never find on your own. An open road and a pack of Vespas. Would you believe this was shot around the corner from the Vatican? Look around: Beauty abounds in the Eternal City. The impressive Fontana dell’Acqua Paola was built using recycled marble from the Roman Forum. The Pantheon is the best preserved monument of Ancient Rome. This happens to be Annie’s favorite place in the world. At Scooteroma, it’s all in the details. Learn all about the domes of Rome and the history of Caput Mundi. Approaching the Colosseum on a tour with Scooteroma. Mr. G giving commentary while his partner in crime Annie is cracking up in the background. What a team.
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