Show Notes: This episode was done after arriving in Florence Italy, having just come from Ragusa which is in the southern part of the island of Sicily. While there it was a week of family dinners, celebration and of course lots and lots of conversation. Since I am at best, conversational in Italian, it means listening a lot and asking for things to slowly be repeated. But everyone is very patient and truly seem to be happy to see us.
I have been posting on twitter from my iphone since we arrived in Italy. I find it interesting to be in a place where somethings are very modern, yet many other things are ancient. This is especially true the farther your get from the big city. A great example of this is how the iphone seems to work everywhere we go using the cell system, but to find free wi-fi is almost impossible.
For those of you who might be lucky enough to travel to Italy, getting around by train is very easy. It used to be harder because you had to buy tickets at the ticket window. It was common to have the agent throw a ticket at you in frustration and signal you to move away from the window. These days, everything is done at ticket kiosk where you can purchasing tickets in six different languages. The trains are clean, comfortable and even the local trains are surprisingly efficient. The local trains slower, but that is part of the charm of coming here, you are forced to slow down, take in the scenery and enjoy the ride. My observation is that most people fall asleep.
Italians ride modern scooters. But that doesn’t mean you don’t a few 2 strokes or other old vehicles poking along. It is common to come across people broke-down on the side of the road and it is always an adventure to stop and talk with them. If it is a scooter, curse their bikes and love them at the same time, but eventually every conversation turns to “who is your family”, “do you know this person or that person”. It seems to always be about looking for a connection. It has me thinking about how our scooter conversations are similar, what scooter are you riding, who do you know and what rallies have you been too. Did I mention that dinner here usually starts about eight and goes until midnight with lots of drinking? Sounds familiar doesn’t it, kind of like our scooter get-togethers.
Music for this show is from the Podsafe Music Network and included the Silent Treatment and also Sean Costello.
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