benvenito a Vicenza

I have done a bit of traveling in my day and know that the world has alot of people in it. What I didn't know is that they would all be in the Florence train station yesterday. But there they were, milling and swirling and pushing and shoving. So we joined in, barged our way down the track to our train, struggled on board with our bags, and took off, right on time (thank you, Mussolini). It is a beautiful ride, once out of the backyards of Florendce. The train heads north to Bologna and the pine-covered hills. Then it flattens out into beautiful green plains all the way to Padua where we changed trains to Vicenza. We got here at 2:30, got to the apartment, changed clothes, unpacked and hit the streets. It is as we remember it for the most part, but has been hit by that most insidious of vandalism, graffiti. Three years ago there was virtually none. Now it is everywhere defacing these beautiful old buildings. And there does not seem to be any effort to clean it up.

Who did I see in the mob at the train station? Stanley Tucci, Dick Cheney (smoking -- against the law in the station, but he breaks all kinds of laws, no?), Greta Garbo, John Travolta. At least I think that's who they were. They sure looked familiar.

This machine is very hard to use. Space bar doesn't work.

This moring we went out to do basicf shopping at the local "supermarket"and tomorrow we will take the bus to Centro Palladio, a fabulous big market with two aisles of nothing but dried pasta and the most beautiful deli stuff I have ever seen. Wednesday it's off to Venice providing it isn't raining. We had gorgeous weather yesterday but it is cold, dark and rainy today.

Apartment is wonderful, as we remembered it would be. A very welcome change from 4-flights up in Flo.

Happy Guy Fawkes Day. The British Nanny State decided it was too dangerous to have bonfires in celebration of "gun powder, treason and plot"and cancelled the whole thing. What's next?