Firenze at last

It was bound to happen and I won't complain, but here it is. So on the last day in Germany, I sent laundry out. Half of it didn't come back. Hopefully Rob will receive it in the mail shortly. So, I was left with about half of my short sleeved shirts and considering that the weather said it was going to be around 18-20 degrees and it has been more like 25-28 degrees, I am getting a little bored of the same tops. Lucky for me, I'm now in Italy's shopping haven.

Yesterday, I decided to wear my sneakers since I thought it was going to be a cooler ride up to Cortina and maybe some walking through the hills. Well, apparantly, they are done. My arches were killing me, and by the way they stink to high heaven from walking through the Blantyre slums, sewage and then trying to wash them off. So Rob, I know you were wondering what was causing the stink... it was the sneakers and now they are stinking up Venice because that's where I left them. My flip flops are way way more comfortable anyway.

This morning at about 6 am, I woke up to a few screaming children in the room next to me and I couldn't move without lots of pain. My back was a mess and I'm not really sure why, since I wouldn't consider the two museums yesterday a strain on me. This also really wasn't the thing I needed when I have to drag a 22 kilo bag through Venice (there are no ramps by the way, just stairs over every bridge, no idea how people in a wheelchair can live here). Popped a few ibuprofen and turned out ok. That's what I get for getting old.

The plusses

- a so-so day on vacation is better than a great day at work
- I'm alive and I can take a 5 minute shower and not use my entire days worth of water in doing so

So, I'm here in Firenze and looking forward to enjoying the last week or so of vacation. More to come.

k