catching up 1

hoping to catch up this morning...so much going on...i spent a ton of time in 6 trains yesterday and overnight so i wrote a lot in my journal...will be transposing...also, now in munich, germany where the y and z on the keyboard are interchanged...so more errors are sure to come

after meeting mike and lindsaz at the chanting service, determined to drop venice and go instead to the cinque terre on the ligurian sea...stazed in small room, 55 euro...talked her down from 70...w no ac but adequate bed....up a winding trail equivalent to about 7 stories between, behind buildings...no bidet-washing machine here.

immediatelz went to the break front to plunge into the ligurian sea...cold but refreshing, then sunned a bit and the up to hike to 2 of the rother cinque terre villages, corniglia, pro. cornelia, and manarola. hike to corniglia took about 2 hours...steep up and down rock paths...hell...but great to enjoy the peace and quiet and views of the sea after days in busz cities

long...real long shower needed afterwards

while hiking picked up a small rock for friend kathy mahan...shed asked for a rock from everywhere i visited...no chance...they add weight...should anyone else desire a stone, i am sure she will share hers with you

had always thought id arrive in monaco in a sleek, fast, shinz car with a beatiful woman in a mink coat...no much else...and myself in a tuxedo...guess ive seen too manz james bonds...arrived instead in sneakers, on a regional train with george...ive named the backpack...he is definitely a monkey on my back and like the childrens books...seeking the next adventure...i was wearing my black t shirt...left tux on fairview road for museum of history gala for george washington on the 16th...didnt want it get wrinkled on this trip

note...these catch ups will go in more circles than usual and so i apologize

best view in rome was st peters dome on 8-30...went for a morning run...storms were brewing with dark, heavz clouds behind the basilica...perfect photo op...camera was of course in the room

no place to really sit and wonder-think-meditate or worship at st petes...so i sang it is well at the altar behind the high altar...as i turned around...a bird flew over the high alter...a pigeon from the square or a dove of peace?????

glad i didnt bring ipod...but have missed music...have sung alot...in rome it seemed that sporadic lines from mozarts requiem came to me...another time in one of my taxi splurges...the radio announcer was talking about the black eyed peas...the only thing i understood him sazing....therefore i sang imma be up in the club doing whatever i like...for hours...in florence...2 shops on the same street had a station with madonna music and a band nestled beneath the damn on the erno was playing all american music

traffic here chaotic but considerate...buses, cars and scooters all pause to allow you to cross

dinner in a street cafe...calimari...first fried food ive had since fried okra at hayes barton cafe 2 weeks ago
left vandozza yesterdaz, 8 -2, on 607 train to genoa...had 30 minutes to connect...so stepped out onto plazza, which happened to be the plaza of christopher columbus...got great shot of the statue of-to him...note...now abou 600 photos into the trip. grabbed a quick coffee...all coffee now is expresso for me...need the jolts...and an apple filled croissant, still warm...yum o.

boarded train to monte carlo

on the train to vandozza sat with a nice familz who spoke almost no english from romania...thez showed me on the map where thez lived...they do not know my dear friend from grad school, raluca, also from romania

at dinner in vandozza old men singing "hallelujah" in the street...il divo they were not in sounds or looks, but pretty cool none the less

while en route to vandozza, on the cinque terre, noticed huge snow covered mountains only to realize later that they were marble quarries, passed through marble yards with huge piles of gravel, etc...kind of like going to greystone in henderson...also huge blocks of stone...wondered if there was a future david somewhere amongst those