June 14, 2007

One Month



So it has been a month of being out of the US, longest vacation ever. Biked about 16 km today - was overcast, but the humidity has been climbing over the past week. Have learned more about this region's history: Was occupied during WW II, some report a sense of "resistance" is still felt. Was imagining this landscape during war, and the poverty and loss which followed. Plan to take some portraits of the people, along with more landscape and architecture. Have finalized our "vacation within a vacation"; Pisa and Florence, Italy in early July for 1 week. Found travel is quicker and easier taking a train (northeast 2-1/2 hours) to Paris, then getting on a plane to Italy for about 1-1/2 hours (southeast), than it would be to try to travel southeast from where we are. Everything must go through Pairs first - a statement probably started by Napoleon. Discovered "Amazon UK", and ordered an Italian phrasebook, along with two other books about France - package got here in about three days - pretty amazing. M