Hello Rome!

[vconaway]

Whew, I am completely exhausted. Or, as the guy who talked himself out of
a ticket on the train (he hadn't validated) told the conductor, "stanco
come cane" (tired as a dog).

It's been an interesting trip so far! US Airways seems to have misplaced
the stand for my dulcimer, so after I take a nap (I know it's bad for jet
lag but I'm too tired to care) I'm going to see if I can find a keyboard
stand that will be good enough for now. Longer term I might have my
parents mail me my spare stand, but I'm really hoping that I get a call
from the airline tonight saying "whoops". Fingers crossed...

I have to admit that while it's a bit frustrating, everything else went so
smoothly that I've got no real complaints. The hotel I'm in is quite
nice, though a bit out of the way, and the bed is calling my name. I've
been doing most of my navigating through various airport beaurocracies in
Italian, and while I'm by no means elegant I seem to be getting by better
than I expected. To sum up, I'm here, I'm happy, and I'm ready to go!

After a nap, that is.