a Roma

My month in Florence finished yesterday. I had breakfast with my host family and lunch with friends and took an afternoon train (hour and a half) into Roma Termini. I didn't realize when I got on the train that we had seat assignments, so I was cramming my overstuffed carryon into an overhead bin on a full car, while a woman looked anxiously on, people lining up behind us on both sides, and when I finished she asked, "Do you have seat 73?" Which of course I didn't, so I had to extract my carryon again and squeeze past half a dozen other luggaged passengers . . . in the wrong direction, so then I had to turn around and make my way down to the next car (luckily I was only one car off) and find my seat, where happily there was much more overhead room.

I slept most of the way into Rome, as I had on the way in a month earlier, so there may be some of the most beautiful scenery in the world between Rome and Florence, but I wouldn't know.

Breaking news: meals here at my new home are excellent. We had spaghetti alla carbonara for Pranzo (lunch) today, and it was outstanding . . . the meal of course being served in a large, frescoed banquet room . . .