Random Observations

I'm a little behind in blogging and will fill in the gaps in the next few days. In other news, it's less than a week until Kristen comes! In the meantime, here are some tidbits:

• Italians must really like their lingerie. Either that or it’s a popular souvenir. There are two chains of lingerie stores in the city, as well as plenty of independent stores, that have to be making enough money to pay the probably not insignificant rents. There are even lingerie stores in the train station!
• Even though there’s a law against driving while talking on a cell phone, that’s often ignored, as you can imagine. In fact, even the bus drivers can often be found holding a phone in one hand and driving the bus with the other.
• Quote of the day: “The ‘face of slowness’ in Italy is a negative, outmoded one in Bruno [Contigiani, founder of “L’Arte del Vivere con Lentezza”]’s mind; to him the clichés of the simple Italian way of life are really just inefficiency masquerading as charm.”
  -- New Yorker, April 7, 2008