You are so right. It feels like each day is 5x normal length as events unfold.

I love Bologna, its parks and arcades. We ended out tour here last fall when Covid booted us out of Europe again. I love the city more now knowing it’s a refugee processing center.

And now that you’ve prompted me to look for it, I see that Barcelona is one of Spain’s four centers also.

Machete! Must be a chain. I got clipped in a Machete a few years back in Torino.

Soak in what you can and stay aware. The world events are a shadow over us all.

Glad you are together, deciding.

M

wonder what they taste like?

Really good use of laundry day leftovers.

M

Excellent! The addition of horses is one we never thought of.

Pakistan approach is a first-on-the-spot, motors don‘t get priority?

Hi Grampies — we have admired your journals from afar and appreciate all that you share with the world.

Our bikes — Bromptons purchased in 2015 for biking in cities and Europe. We have done parts of the Donau, Black Forest, Bodensee to Bad Tolz, North Sea of Netherlands including the infamous 25k Afsluitdijk (got very lucky with the wind). Plus they are our regular work bikes in Ithaca. Ken has a 6 speed Brompton and he heroically did the Rohloff hub installation on Zelda‘s giving her 14 speeds that allows her to ride up hills much slower than most people can walk. This is Zelda‘s second Brompton. They are ideal for cities — really fun and zippy. Use for long distances is not as ideal but we are not usually out for the distance as much as the places.

We really like Roman and Medieval places. Hard to find in Upstate NY so we saved time and cents pennies to make this year happen. What we thought would be a blissful wander about the countryside 5 years ago has been fraught with dictators, plagues, and war.None of these were on the bingo card and yet here we are sandwiched in history. What a time to witness.

Completely agree about the right size. I could spend months here.

I enjoyed the photos, especially of you in front of the plant vendor. My wife is not having much luck with her lemon plant and the ones behind you look fantastico. We had a couple of nights in Padova back in 2019 and loved it. It's a right sized city, large enough to keep us occupied and small enough to feel accessible.

I want some of that strudel and vanilla sauce! :)

What Scott said!

Nicely put: the size of the rocks in that riverbed is a testament to the proximity of the mountains and the force of floodwaters!

On the C&O Canal towpath: Horses, hikers/walkers, bikes

In Pakistan, it seemed to be: whoever could occupy a space first. Need to pass a slow-moving vehicle or foot traffic? Pull into the "lane" (I use the term very loosely) of oncoming traffic. If there's an oncoming vehicle honk and flash your lights to alert them that they need to get out of your way. Railway gate blocking traffic? Everyone mobs the gate on both sides, all across the roadway's width and perhaps beyond. When the gate rises it's reminiscent of a rugby scrum or US football scrimmage, as all parties rush to fill the void.

The relics of San Antonio made a lasting impression on me. I hope this isn't disrespectful of others' beliefs, but his tongue on display is very creepy.