Back in Rome!

It always astounds me how convenient train travel is. I show up at the
Florence station with nothing but an inkling, buy a ticket for a train due
to depart twenty minutes later, get on board, take a nap, and boom I'm in
Rome!

Since it's only been four days, when I expected to be gone about a month,
I guess the euro I tossed in the Trevi fountain paid off (a superstition
holds that giving money to the Trevi will guarantee a return to Rome).

I noticed the other day that even goths in Italy look sharply dressed.

Reading Italian coverage of the State of the Union address was
interesting, as was the fact that they always refer to Speaker Pelosi's
heritage (la italo-americana Nancy Pelosi) whenever she's mentioned. They
seem very proud of her :)

Finally, the municipal government of Rome would like to remind you that
they are the direct descendant of the Roman Republic, and not the nation
of Italy (no matter what Geribaldi might have written). Everything the
city touches - from monuments to manhole covers - is stamped S.P.Q.R,
which was the ancient abbreviation used by the Roman Senate.

And with that flurry of A.D.D. bulletins I'm off :)