Posted 1:41 PM by Lodger
No Madonna music in this cafe. No music at all, actually. We are in, or actually, just below, Montmartre, Paris, in an area called (I think) Pigalle. We arrived in Paris yesterday at approximately 3PM. We are staying in a two star hotel called 'The New Parnasse' in Montparnasse, south of Paris's heart (Notre Dame, The Louvre, etc). It's unspectacular, but clean and conveniently located just a five minute walk from Montparnasse train station.

Before Paris we spent two days in Bayonne in the southwest corner of France... it was a quaint little city, about fourty thousand people, and not too busy with tourists. We spent our second day there in St. Jean de Luz on the recommendation of the tourist office. It's definitely a resort town, historically a fishing port, but unfortunately in August, swimming with French tourists. Although a pretty place, we both agreed it wasn't what we were looking for and that we probably should have stayed in Bayonne for the second day. Oh well. C'est la vie. We did have some fabulous chocolate in Bayonne... judging from the tourist info we collected, Bayonne's chocolateirs are famous and Melissa and I both give the chocolate there two thumbs up.

From Bayonne we headed to Tours in the Loire Valley, famous for it's Medeival chateaux. We stayed at a very nice, very affordable little hotel called the Hotel Vendomme... the couple who ran it couldn't speak a lick of English and our French is pitiful, yet the hospitality was the best we've experienced so far. (And we've had few complaints, especially in Spain and France - sorry Italy!) The husband, on the morning of day two, greeted us with a cheery, 'Est-ce que vous partez?' I replied, 'Non, non, trois nuits.' He replied with a wide toothy grin and exclaimed, ' Ah! Trois nuits! C'est bon!' and he took my hand and shook it vigourously. It was very nice to realise that our business was so appreciated.

We visited only one chateau during our three days, the Chateau Blois just outside of Tours in Blois. It was interesting... four different types of architecture, historical sites of Medeival political intrigue, murders, revenge plots, more murder. The town was nice, cool little shops, cafes etc., everything one would expect from a small French town, I suppose. Our time in Tours was essentially spent just relaxing, wandering around, window shopping, eating... it was good. We could have raced around taking in chateaux... the possibilities were numerous, but we just weren't up to it. You can only take in so much. And in the back of both our minds was Paris.

We've had a great time here. We've done a boat tour of the Seine, Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame cathedral and Montmartre.

Just checked out the CBC and have heard from Mom at home... fire situation in BC is quite worrisome. Our aunt Bonnie's family and our Grandma have been evacuated from their homes. Fires are raging out of control everywhere and there is no sign of a change in weather in sight. Thunderstorms are the forecast for tonight. It's very spooky hearing tales from home about the sounds and smells of the nearby fires, and pictures I've seen are frightening to say the least, especially the ones from Kelowna. Thankfully people are being evacuated safely and efficiently and injuries have been minimal.

I guess that's it for now.

Posted 9:34 AM by Lodger
We stopped in Pamplona for one night on the way to San Sebastian. We were meant to get there at 5PM, but due to circumstances brought on by our own carelessness that I won't go into now (it involved us being asked by a ticket agent to leave the train en route - we were also fined eight euros each), we did't get in until 11PM. Thankfully the hotel where we had a reservation was still open. It was definitely a one star property, but it had two beds and a roof, all we desired at that point.

Our train to San Sebastian wasn't scheduled to leave until 3PM the following day, so we had a morning and part of the afternoon to explore Pamplona. Pamplona is famous for being the place where they have the running of the bulls each year, significantly (to me) described by Hemingway in The Sun Also Rises. There is a street named after Hemingway there, as well as a bar (closed that day unfortunately). There's also a Hemingway monument in front of the bullfighting arena (I got a picture).

After the Hemingway portion of our explorations, which were more for me than Melissa, we wandered the streets, checked out the souvenir shops, a few more monuments to bullfighting, and then hit the tapas bars. We hit four bars in all, beers for me, cokes for Melissa, and a variety of tapas ranging from spicy sausage to a squid and egg mixture on bread. It was a relaxing few hours and a nice way to spend our short time in Pamplona.

We arrived in San Sebastian with high hopes and a keen desire to enjoy the splendour of the Basque coast and it's lovely beaches. Little did we know we were arriving a day before the summer festival and that there were no rooms to be had anywhere. We called ahead to Bilbao, a small town up the coast and booked at the local hostel there. We never made it to San Sebastian, but enjoyed Bilbao's sights and museums (including their rather impressive Guggenheim museum which was temporarily housing works by Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, Alexander Calder, and Roy Lichtenstein to name a few).

After two days in Bilbao, we decided to head to Bayonne, just across the border in France.

'When you call my name, it's like a little prayer...' I've been temporarily distracted by a Madonna classic and have taken it as a signal to stop now... will continue again soon... au revoir.

Posted 3:55 AM by Lodger
PART TWO - THE ROAD TO BARCELONA

We discovered the direct train from Genoa to Barcelona had been cancelled. The only alternative would be a train to Ventimiglia, a bus from there to Nice, a train from Nice to Portbou and a train from Portbou to Barcelona. We would leave Genoa at 4:55 PM on Friday. We would reach Barcelona at approx. 10:30 the next morning. A long trip, but the longest leg would be at night, by train, from Nice to Portbou. Hopefully we would get some sleep.

The train ride to Ventigmilia was uneventful. When we reached the station it soon became obvious that a great majority of the passengers on our train were also transfering to Nice. There was a huge crush of people at the front entrance, a confused, agitated crowd looking for direction. A short, chubby man in a beige golf shirt provided it. He directed us all to a side exit, where a ramp with steal guardrails about three body widths apart led down to a large oval shaped parking lot. And there we waited, as bus after bus arrived to cart us off to Nice. The whole operation was being directed by a sharp looking man with a clipboard whose light yellow cotton shirt and perfectly creased kahki trousers were conspicously free of traces of sweat. He directed bus traffic with quick, confident, circular motions with his free hand. This man instilled confidence. This man would get us to Nice.

When we got close to the front of the line, two buses awaited us in the parking lot, a new slick burgundy model with gray racing stripes, and a faded white model with orange and green stripes circa 1979. We wanted slick burgundy (it seemed likely to have the best air conditioning)... we got 1979. But thankfully, as we entered the bus we were met by a blast of cool air and a wide selection of still empty, comfortable looking seats.

As we pulled out of Ventimiglia, it seemed all would be well... only 16 more hours and we'd be in Barcelona. As our driver turned left onto the highway, Melissa jumped, startled, her eyes wide. 'I think we just hit that car.' Sure enough, the bus pulled over and our driver got out to discuss the matter with the driver of the car. We waited for what seemed like an eternity, approximately ten minutes. After the cancellation of the train to Barcelona and now the accident, we couldn't help thinking we were cursed. Our arrival in Nice confirmed it. When we entered the station we were met with an unsettling sight. Every inch of floor space was taken up by people standing, sitting or squatting with their luggage piled around them. The arrivals and departures platforms were in the same state. And beside every train departure on the electronic board the following words were posted: 'retardent indefinite'... delayed indefinitely. One train was already more than three hours late. So we waited, listening for announcements, new information. We enquired about why the trains were delayed to no avail. The man in the little info booth just said, probably for the thousandth time that night, 'regarde le screen.' And so we did. Our train ended up being an hour late and we ended up making our connection in Portbou. The curse did continue though, with one other annoying oddity. For some reason our car was the only one on the entire train in which the lights didn't turn off. Slept anyway. Never did find out why the trains were delayed.

BARCELONA

In a nutshell, Barcelona rocks. We ended up splurging on the hotel after our hellish trip from Italy... 60 euros a night for a room in a four star hotel sounded pretty great to us when we reached the station. The hotel was just outside the city centre and right at the train station, also on the metro line.

Barcelona was hot, but much drier than Rome... 35 degrees was actually tolerable there, especially when the breeze came up. We stayed four nights in Barcelona, most of the time spent taking in sights. There was so much to see... we were really turned on to Antoni Gaudi's arcitecture. The guy was amazing... Melissa kept saying, 'The guy's a genius' and refering to her daily purchases of Gaudi postcards as feeding her Gaudi fix. I was no better, of course. The guy's a genius.

We took in some museums, 'The Picasso Museum' being the highlight... Park Guell, a public park designed by Gaudi was our favorite sight.

I tried Gazpacho soup, a traditional Spanish dish. I had heard it described as cold tomato soup. I expected a thick consistency for some reason, and so was pleasantly surprised to find it to be light and refreshing and tasting slightly citrusy... very refreshing on a hot afternoon. I had Paella as well at the same cafe/bar the next day, with a half litre glass of beer as accompaniment... got to beat the heat somehow. Melissa stuck with what she knew... Spaghetti Bolognese and chicken and chips, both with coke.

We left Barcelona feeling relaxed and pleased with our time there. We both agreed it would have been nice to have more time there, but we had other plans... sunny San Sebastian! That didn't quite work out as planned either... improvisation has been the main theme over the last few days.

Adios, for now.

Posted 9:35 AM by Lodger
Genoa to Barcelona - 'All's well that ends well.'

PART ONE - GENOA

We arrived in Genoa on Thursday at about 3PM and checked on rates for local hotels at the Hotel Reservations Office. They could find nothing for under one hundred euros per night. We decided to call around to a few places listed in the local tourist guide and found the Hotel Auquaverdi, a one star establishment for 70 euros per night. We decided to take it, but lost our way trying to find the hotel. Lost, and getting a bit testy in the heat, we came upon the Hotel Laguna, a one star 'hotel' on a hill overlooking the bay. Thinking we had nothing to lose, we asked the proprietor, a tall, thin man, likely in his sixties, with gray, balding hair, for a rate on a room. He quoted us 40 euros for a double room and offered to show it to us. We followed him upstairs. Upon first inspection the room looked okay. It was moderate in size and run down, but had a balcony with a view. No air conditioning though, and the bathroom was ancient looking - the tub was graying and only large enough to stand or squat in; ominously, a small paper sign in scribbled handwriting was taped above the electrical outlet: 'Do Not Touch!' - despite some questionable elements, we agreed to take the room based, admittedly, on the appealling price.

While the proprietor took down our personal information to check us in, we sat outside on the terrace in front of the hotel's main entrance. As we waited, several of what we assumed were the hotel's regulars came in and out. They were an eclectic bunch, quite rough looking to the two of us, especially Melissa, who started laughing quietly to herself. Then she piped up. 'I'm not so sure about this place.' I would later be glad she said so, but in that moment, we found ourselves in a rather awkward situation. Our bags were already upstairs and we had technically already checked in. Reluctantly we went to our room and once there, became firm in our resolve not to stay. We put on our backpacks, grabbed our other bags and marched downstairs. At one point we passed a back door and looked at each other. 'Should we make a break for it?' A tempting thought, but of course, we still had the key, and it would be an extremely cowardly thing to do. But I was not looking forward to a a confrontation with the balding gray haired man and his crew of regulars, who were sitting nearby in the 'TV lounge.' When we reached the front desk, one of 'the crew' was standing there and evidently knew what we were looking to do. She called to the balding, gray-haired man whose name was, apparently, Lorenzo. Surprisingly, nobody, including Lorenzo, looked at all bothered, or even surprised that we intended to leave. I suspect we were not the first to leave the Hotel Laguna so quickly, and we wouldn't be the last. I mumbled a feeble excuse, 'We've decided to head to Barcelona a day early.' Melissa, with aggressive sincerity, added, 'Thankyou so much for your time.' Lorenzo just nodded, and just like that, we were free of the Hotel Laguna.

We ended up finding the Hotel Aquaverdi, which, I am pleased to report, has been upgraded to a two star hotel and has air conditioning, hardwood floors, a full bath, shower and toilet, and TV. 70 euros felt like a steal. Thankyou Melissa! That evening we watched cheesy Italian TV (Star Search - I still say Jennifer was robbed in the pop music competition!) and retired early after a quick walkabout in Genoa.

My first and, unfortunately, only impression of Genoa is not a favourable one, although, I suspect with more time the city's charms would become more evident. It has been named Europe's cultural capital for 2004, which is a good thing, of course, except that it is 2003 and the thus most of the city is presently under construction to prepare for next year. Genoa is a port city and it's multicultural make-up reflects it. One side street we walked along resembled Bombay or Calcutta more than anything I'd previously seen in Italy. Many different languages were being spoken, children dashed about amongst and beneath the bustling crowds and market stalls, and at one point, a man teetered forward precariously on his scooter while sending a text message! Eventually he stopped after being stared down by an elderly Indian woman in a sari who he'd almost hit. This brief snapshot of what I guess could be called 'the real Genoa' was interesting, and if we'd had more time, different plans, it would have been worth exploring. But in the end we saw little of Genoa... had a lovely lunch on Friday afternoon... I ordered a seafood ravioli and had some of the sweetest prawns I've ever tasted. It was a restful, relaxing way to end our time in Genoa. Little did we know, we were about to experience the night from hell. (Note the title, All's Well That Ends Well - we are in Barcelona now and all is wonderful... getting here was the challenge... cancelled and delayed trains, a bus accident, unexpectedly walking into a hash bar in a desparate search for food!) Until later...

Posted 11:17 AM by Lodger
We are both exhausted. The contrast between how I felt yesterday and how I feel now is striking.

Yesterday I felt very energised, ready to take on the world. Even in almost 40C heat I was marching down Vias and through Piazzas with gusto. Partly it was due to an unforseen, eventually fortunate, hiccup in our plans. But I will start at the beginning of our day.

We left the hostel mid-morning and made the trip by Metro to the train station. From there we walked to our hotel which took us about fifteen minutes. The room wasn't quite ready when we arrived, so we left our luggage and went across the street to a local cafe. We noticed right away that the cafe differed from most of the others we'd been in. Firstly, everyone, customers and staff, seemed to know each other. It was like an Italian episode of Cheers. All these people were coming in quickly, were greeted with recognising smiles and personal welcomes, ordered their coffees, and soon were out the door, smiling brightly as they left. At one point a woman who works there emerged walking briskly from a door to a back room. She was carrying a tray of pastries and other savoury items. She was blonde, thin and heavily made up, maybe fourty years old. She greeted the whole room with a quick, staccato-like, "Bonjourno, journo, journo, journo!" Many of the customers and staff replied with near equal enthusiasm. Melissa and I smiled quietly like the reserved Canadians we are and ordered our drinks. They were tasty and more than half the price we've paid in other places. I guess it pays to stay in an area just outside the main tourist areas.

After returning to our hotel, the desk agent took us to our room. We were thrilled... no AC, but the room was on the bottom floor and had a fan... no more sauna! After unpacking we decided to return to the Spanish Steps to see the Keats museum, something we could do quickly before going to our Ancient Rome tour at 2:30. Unfortunately, when we got there, it was closing for an hour and a half for lunch... the aformentioned fortunate hiccup. We decided to get out the map and look for something close by. We noticed the Villa Borghese, a large park on a hill overlooking the city, was about a ten minute walk away, just above a place called the Piazza Polozzo. And what a Piazza it turned out to be. First of all, it was almost completely deserted, for good reason, really... it's large and paved without a lick of shade in sight. I didn't mind. It's gorgeous. It's centered by an Egyptian obelisk and a fountain with lions spitting (drinkable!) water. At both ends were sculptures of what I think were Roman gods. Hercules?, or maybe Juno?, in front of the green hillside of the Villa Borghese. A muscular naked guy with a beard, anyway. For some reason, the unexpected find gave me a boost of energy and enthusiasm. I felt a bit bad for Meliss who was dragging behind a bit. We hiked up the hillside to the park where we had a wonderful view of the city. We took some pictures and then had to go to make our tour at 2:30.

This time we made it in plenty of time. And lucky us, only two other people, Richard and Diane from Michigan, had signed up. Our tour guide was an American Art History major from California named Jessica. She was very good, if a little bit negative about the heat at times, although who could blame her. We covered the Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum, basically where the Emperor's palaces and the 'Downtown' of ancient Rome were situated about 2000 years ago. It was cool hearing details about the individual ruins, what went on, etc. We saw where St. Lawrence was burned alive, where St. Peter was held prisoner, where Caesar's body was cremated, and where Emperors and their buddies ate and ate until they puked and ate some more (they had special rooms, vomitoriums, built for that specific purpose). The tour was well worth it.

In the evening we had a cheap dinner of pizza and coke, then headed back to The Villa Borghese to explore and then sit back, relax and read a good book.

Today we did the Vatican... a free tour of St. Peter's Basilica and then we decided to take a paid tour of the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel. It was a very good decision... our guide, Cathy, from Boston, was very good. We arrived at Vatican City at 9:40AM and left at about 5PM... a very full day. We are both knackered.

Tonight we take it easy. Tomorrow we take the train to Genoa, then Barcelona the next day. We're both very excited about Spain. We keep hearing good things.

Ciao.

Posted 11:23 PM by Lodger
A new day! I slept like a log last night. Feel good today. Refreshed and clean.

I'm to meet Melissa in about fifteen minutes... managed to get up on time today.

My stale role, my coffee, and the next chapter of my book await, so I think I wll end this entry here.

Posted 1:39 PM by Lodger
I'm a tad pissed off to say the least. This is my third attempt at blogging using 5 euro telephone cards and these silly terminals here at the hostel. I've paid for the bloody things and I tend to be stubborn when I'm pissed off, so what follows, if it indeed ends in success, is attempt number three.

First. Thankyou to all who sent me birthday messages... I will send messages back as I am able to. Internet time is something Melissa and I have been making a priority in the evenings.

August 4, 2003 has been a lot less stressful than August 4 2002, let me tell you. That day from hell seems like a lifetime ago (a good thing, I think). It was good to hear from the Kenny/Lemon household, my old stomping grounds during 'the dark times' and the increasingly shiny happy times that shortly followed... hearing about this year's Pride celebrations in Vancouver reminded me of long walks along English bay, living in the West End... good times, good times. Must read Lemon's blog for pics and a recap.

Now, back to the present...

Melissa and I have decided to stay in a hostel in Rome. It was a decision based on economic considerations... 16 euros a night including breakfast. Okay, so breakfast is a stale role and a coffee or juice. And there's no air conditioning. And the traffic, in addition to the heat, keeps you awake at night. And the staff is unhelpful and at times, dare I say, a tad rude. And the hostel is a half hour commute from the city centre...

I'll stop now. We are saving money, which is a good thing. However, today, like last August 4, has had it's ups and downs. It started badly. Melissa and I are in separate dorms, as per the rules of the establishment. Last night we decided to meet for breakfast at 8:30 this morning. She would use her alarm to wake herself, I would use use my mobile phone. A foolproof plan. Unless you miss-set your alarm... you see, I thought since it was an hour later here than on my phone, I would set the alarm for an hour later on my phone. If at this point you don't see where this is going and how I screwed up, then you are as thick as I was last night. I suspect most of you are not however, and are laughing at me. Well, as you can imagine, Melissa was not laughing when I emerged in the lobby at 10 AM, having been thinking just five minutes before (I had since grabbed my watch from my locker) that I was early and it was 8AM. Thank God it is my birthday... she forgave me very quickly ("I can't stay mad at you on your birthday.") Phew! It did take me awhile to explain how I was two hours late from mis-setting my clock by just one hour, but we had a half hour bus and metro ride to straighten it out (I still don't know how I did something so stupid!)

We were at the Colosseum by 11. Not bad. We then decided to take a guided tour which was very good... an extra 7.50 euros, but well worth it. We decided we would take the same company's 2:30 tour of Ancient Rome (the Forum, Palatine hill). It was 1:20, sweltering hot, and we were both starving and wilting in the heat... we needed to re-energise. So we walked to Via Del Corso, got a table at an outdoor cafe (shaded, thank God!), and had a lovely lunch. Lovely... except our salads took quite some time to arrive. And then our pizza... we had been seated at 1:30 and the main course didn't arrive until 1:17. We quickly gulped down our food, paid the bill, and raced dow the street to meet our tour at 2:30. We arrived a the meeting point at 2:33. They were nowhere to be seen. We were completely baffled. Where could they have gone in such a short time? It's a fairly wide open space. Anyway, we searched about for a bit and then gave up. Now I've been told by many people that I'm a patient person. But once I lose it, it isn't pretty. Kudos to Melissa for keeping her cool and rolling with the punches. I just couldn't stop thinking about the time we'd wasted, the time I had wasted by accidently sleeping in. I've seen many of the things we are seeing right now, but Melissa hasn't, and I felt like a total putz for wasting her time... but, it all worked out, as it always does.

We decided to go to the hotel reservation office to see if we could get a cheap hotel for the last two nights here and halelluja! we got something close to the train station (very central) with twin beds and our own bath and breakfast for 45 euros per night. A little more, but well worth it.

We spent the rest of the day taking in other sights and drinking mineral water and eating gelato at various cafes (you have to get inside regularly to survive the heat). We threw our coins in the Trevi fountain(made our wishes), saw the monument to Italian unification, went to the Spanish steps and Keats's memorial, saw the Pantheon.

(Okay, now I'm f$%&king steaming... I was just booted off again on another machine mid-entry... I had saved up to what you just read, but now I have to re-finish the entry. A polo mallet and a punching bag with the a picture of the head of the person who designed these things printed on it would be nice about now).

Now the lights are off. Curfew, apparently. I guess I will sign off here. Reluctantly.

Tomorrow we say goodbye to this place. Not reluctantly.

Posted 9:40 AM by Lodger
Another quick entry from Florence...

We saw Michaelangelo's 'David' today and many other sculptures and paintings (went to Uffizi Gallery and La Galleria del Academia)... it was a lot to take in in one day; amazing, but, overwhelming. Definitely enjoying the sculpture in the city and in the galleries a great deal. There is one in particular, in the square out front of the Uffizi gallery... a god (Apollo, Mercury maybe?) is holding the decapitated head of a woman, possibly Medusa, or a rival goddess?... it's very violent yet graceful, and I could look at it all day. Need to know what it is and who sculpted it! Haven't found a postcard of it yet and haven't had time to investigate online. If anyone knows...

Oh yeah! Almost forgot to mention, I finally ran into someone I know while on holiday. (I've been jealous of other expat friends running into acquaintances from other continents, some on more than one occasion!) Mine wasn't a fellow Canadian, but a colleague from work, a supply teacher from New Zealand who taught half a term at the school. It was cool to run into her so randomly and her and her friend joined us for dinner, which was nice. They encouraged us to avoid Naples, and after researching a bit, we have decided to take their advice.

So...

We are heading to Rome early tomorrow morning and will arrive noonish. We plan to spend four nights there, then head to Genoa for one or two nights, and then it's off to Spain!!! No Naples means possibly more time in Spain, especially Barcelona, which makes me very happy. We were thinking Madrid after Barcelona, now we're not sure... maybe Valencia or San Sebastian? Both seem more appealing based on what our guidebook says. San Sebastian makes the most sense geographically and it is said to be a stunning city.

After Spain, we plan to hit Bordeaux for a few days and then finish up our travels in Paris.

Tonight I think we'll be taking it easy. I have a book to finish... a very bizarre one, 'Perfume,' by Patrick Suskind, about an 18th century French orphan who doesn't give off a scent and has the greatest sense of smell humanity has ever seen. It's possibly the most sensual book I've ever read, and definitely one of the strangest.

I'm also reading John McEnroe's biography, which is real page-turner. It's funny how the oddest things bring back memories... reading about his famous matches and all of the players who were coming up when he was number one zooms me right back to my early adolescence... I watched my first Wimbledon the summer of 1984. We'd sold our duplex in Kamloops for our eventual move to Squamish, and that summer we stayed in my late great-grandfather's old house on our grandparent's property, a tiny one bedroom place with no air conditioning. I don't know the statistics, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was one of the hottest summers in recent memory. Five of us stayed in that tiny little place, windows open at night, fans going... I remember we laughed about it a lot, it was just so absurd, but it was also very trying.

Anyway, McEnroe won Wimbledon that year, and I remember just despising him. I was quite thrilled over the next few years as my future tennis heroes, Edberg and Becker came on the scene and eventually supllanted him. But reading about his life at the time, I'm amazed at the level of self doubt he experienced, how poorly he dealt with the pressure of being number one. This is probably boring to people who are not tennis fans, but must say the book is completely engrossing.

Time is running out. Until next time...

Posted 1:07 PM by Lodger
A quick entry from Florence...

Venice was lovely but busy. The crowds were a bit much and I really noticed being there this time that the cafes and such are really out to get your money (Melissa paid four Euros for a can of Coke... ouch!).

Florence is beautiful. It's a little more laid back and has a less touristy atmosphere. Our hotel room is quite humourous. You get what you pay for and we're paying 50 euros a night for a room with a shower, toilet and breakfast... a smoking deal. Okay, so the main light doesn't work, the toilet is only good for one flush every half hour or so, there are no power outlets in the room... we can work around those things. Oh yeah, the toilet seat is cracked as well, and gave my bum a nasty pinch today... I let out a loud yelp and told Melissa what happened... she laughed for about ten minutes straight. I'm always happy to be the source of other people's amusement, even when it involves my humilitation in some form (actually I can't say I'm that happy about it usually, but it tends to happen whether I want it to or not, so I live with it).

Quickly must finish now...

Saw the Duomo, Palazzo Vitti, Palazzo Medici and bought some fruit, pistachios, wine and olives at a market (most of which Melissa will not touch with a ten foot pole, leaving a veritable feast for me when we get back to the room tonight).

Arrive Derchi,

Will report again tomorrow.