Happy Labor Day!

Italy celebrates a national holiday on April 25. What did they decide
they needed exactly one week later? Another national holiday! I love
this country! Of course, like Liberation Day, it isn't called "labor
day". No, it's called "May First", leaving confused visitors to ask
bewilderedly what's going on :) Maybe one reason my OCD fixates on dates
is my Italian heritage...

Of course I'm sure some of you have noticed the Beltane factor as well,
which is kind of cool.

I'm in Modena now, for those keeping score at home. Modena is the home of
balsamic vinegar, where the really high-end stuff is made, and it's also
pretty well known for being the place where Ferrari, Maserati, and
Lamborghini have major factories. It's like Detroit in the 60's would
have been if GM and Ford were a lot sexier.

My last days in Brescia were wonderful. I never did find the medieval
faire, though. I spent an hour walking to the place where I thought it
was (it looked closer on the map) and after walking the hour back I wasn't
really in any shape to do anything but have a nap before evening busking.
Drat! But I will certainly be back.

So now I'm in Modena, staying at a hostel for the first time since being
robbed. It helps that this place seems very secure, with lockers so big
that my dulcimer fits inside one beside my suitcase. I was thinking that,
in returning to hostels, I would get to meet people and brush up on my
English. Funny, my two roommates are both Italians so I spent the evening
sharpening my skills! One spoke English and had lived in the States,
which helped at times, but in general I was pretty impressed with myself
as we ranged from tastes in rock music to the vagaries of the American
health care system.

Earlier in the evening I also had a wonderfully productive conversation
with another street musician, Ricardo, and he gave me all sorts of really
great info on what cities were good and which ones problematic. The
neatest thing there, however, was the fact that I gave him as much
information as he gave me - after four months, I had some places to
recommend that a native hadn't been!

This week will be kind of crazy - Modena is very centrally located so I
will probably spend some time testing the waters in Bologna and Verona
(and possibly Regia Emilia), which were all recommended by Ricardo.
There's also a museum of musical instruments in town, which I'm going to
check out today, and a Vermeer exhibition which I'm going to catch later
this week (since I expect it will be packed today). I'm hoping for a good
one!