Molto bene

I am a disaster at spelling Italian!

Anyway, we were at the Spanish steps, in Piazza del Spagna (I am practicing, nobody speaks inglese in the countryside where I'm headed today)

Disaster! It was totally packed with herds of like 15 year olds drinking out of paper sacks. There were broken bottles everywhere and garbage all over the place, and the piazza was packed with scooters and police standing areound watching the mayhem. It looked nothing like in Roman Holiday, and there was no Gregory Peck there to show us around, either :-( Very disappointing.

I actually cannot remember what else we did in Rome... I really liked it, though, and would like to go back again. Walking through the streets is an adventure, what with the scooters and the miniature cars zipping through and all of the dog poop on the sidewalks.

And we were very pickpocket conscious, whipping around whenever someone was behind us and giving the gypsy ladies the withering stink eye. But the coffee is divine, don't even get me started on the food, and we found the people to be quite nice.

So we arrived in Florence by train, the ride up was so beautiful. Getting on the train was an adventure, because the other people haven't seemed to grasp the idea that pushing isn't effective when the people you are pushing have nowhere to go. We were waiting to put our bags on teh racks and the people behind us were literally shoving us into the people in front of us. And it wasn't like they did it once. We got the bags stowed and got into seats sort of near our assigned ones, though, and quickly mastered the recline button and the trays, and the rest of teh trip was easy. We were the only people looking out the windows at the rolling hills, covered with green grass and scattered, stone fortresses and churches. The hotel in Florence is so nice, recently restored, gorgeous hardwood floors (I'd forgotten what those look like) and marble (marmo, that's Italian) everywhere. Amazing view of red tile roofs, stucco and stone walls, and San Marco church out the huge windows.

We have been so busy looking at beautiful paintings of what's his name? Jesus? I love the Rennaissance, too, but these guys painted nothing but Jesus. Baby Jesus and bloody, dead Jesus, and saints wih arrows hanging out of them, and statues of Jesus, etc. I wish I had either 1. finished that art history book I bought last summer or 2. could remember some of Aesthetics from Visitation. But there is enough for poor, uninformed minds to absorb, and I can always look around and enjoy the architecture, as all of the museums seem to be in old pallazzos.

I don't remember much from the last time I was here, so it all seems new to me!

Well, gotta go catch a train to the villa in Umbria. We've heard that it is gorgeous, and that the food is to die for.