Italy backlog

Whew! So it has been a crazy few days.

I flew in on May 16th, to Milan airport, and the first thing that happened was that I got my AmEx stuck in the train ticket machine. Standing there, with a 50-pund backpack strapped to me and the possibility of having no access to a credit card on a 5-week trip was the least fun thing that has happened to me in a whiel. Luckily, with the help of the train ticket attendent's tweezers, I managed to wrest the credit card free.

Note to travellers in Europe: always pay cash for your train ticket.

Anyway, I went directly from there to Modena, a small town in the Emilia-Romano that specializes in the production of prosciutto crudo (raw ham) and lambrusco, a sparkling red wine.

My hotel was a sweet pensione in the center of town. I was the only guest! I had a lot of lambrusco and availed myself thoroughly of the hotel room the first night (meaning I slept in) and missed my train to Montepulciano.

But that all doesn't matter, because I'm in Sicily now!