Back into the car zone

You may be wondering whether I did a gondola ride.  The answer is no, although I did take a water taxi (motorboat) from St. Mark's Square to get to the train station, thus sparing myself a lot of trudging through the city with luggage as on my arrival.

After a night train ride from Venice, with transfer in Verona, I arrived in Rome today at 6  am.  I walked to my hotel (the same one where I had stayed during my first week here), and I was amazed to discover that my room was ready.  At 8 am I took my laundry to the fellow around the block, and at 10 am I had it back.

I'm doing a lot of reading.  I am a fan of Tom Wolfe, and last night I finished I Am Charlotte Simmons -- an uplifting story, if you can stomach the cruelty inflicted on the title character, and the language.  I've started another Sinclair Lewis novel, Cass Timberlane.

Today I am going to see whether I can at least find our two seminarians, Michael Friedel and Dominic Rankin.  Lunchtime at the North American College would be the most likely point of intersection.