We went out last night for dinner at a Messicano Cafe, which I'm sure Rachel's written all about. The music was great, the food was great, the waiters were cute. We are having a great time. We were up very late packing and now we are on a train from Pontederra (Bridge over the river Era, not Arno), through Florence to Milano in Northern Italy to stay with Sirenna for 2 nights. I hope we'll be able to go back through Florence when we do more traveling through Italy.

The trains are all different here. Some have been really comfortable, some very hot, some air conditioned (1st class) but the seats are comfortable for Rachel, and barely bearable for me. Keep a smile though. I can't complain about the scenery with all the beautiful scenery, more agriculture and greenery than I'd ever imagined here.

So we'll be in Milan Monday night through Wednesday, and then we'll possibly be going to Venice, Rome, Calabria where ever we find people to meet. So if you're reading this and you're in Italy, (or Paris, or England, spots in between *smile*) write to us ASAP or call us on my new cell phone - 0348/8125549 and let us know where you are.



Monica's Journal, July 21, 1998
We've spent 2 nights and a full day in Milan, and we'll be staying another day before we get all ready to go. We've been staying at our new friend Sirenna's place and getting all our ducks in a row. We're going on to Rome, and then Calabria, a seaside resort town in the South of Italy, where a beautiful woman named Gisella has invited us to stay with her. On the way back up, we'll stop in Florence and Venice.

Milan has been very hot and humid, and in the evenings the mosquitos have been pretty bad, since we have no a/c here, the windows are all open in invitation to them. Last night when we were doing our chat, we burned a citronella candle that gave us some relief. My best beat the heat tip: small frozen bottles of water against the face and neck, drinking a lot as well. Also, sleeping with a cool wet cloth around the neck helped.

Monday night after the train ride, we got in and went out for a late dinner at a place called the Silver Star Saloon. It had a tex-mex menu! And the cook Chris was a New Zealander and his girlfriend Mara, an Italian girl who looked English spoke with his accent! Hilarious! We had the best corn chips and guacamole and I had chicken and cheese quesadilla with a side of potato salad. We took some photos of Rachel on the saddle, ride 'em cowgirl! And a group shot of everyone. It was a great spot, and Sirenna's so excited to find good Mexican food here. Plus, we got to watch some good music videos while we were there. I'm not a big TV watcher normally, but Italian MTV and VH1 are pretty good and sometimes funny. It's a mix of American, English and Italian bands.

The taxi's are more expensive in Milan than NY. They charge from wherever they are to your door if you call for a pick up, so you could have a charge on the meter before you even get in the car! Yesterday, we tried the bus, which wasn't bad, but then we had to walk about a mile to find the place we were going to develop the pictures. They're being scanned today, so hopefully tonight we'll be sending more.

Tuesday night we got all dressed up and went to the Four Seasons to have dinner. The restaurant was tiny, a sectioned off portion of the lobby, but there was someone playing showtunes on a grand piano and the seats were comfortable and the service, besides a semi-rude waitress, was good. We tried more of the local cheeses and breads and had some yummy desserts. We walked around the Duomo (big Cathedral) in the center of the city, surrounded by all the designer shops and small cafe's. We walked down a grand walkway, and had a good time counting the cases of whiplash Rachel caused with her outfit. I'm sure the 3 of us made quite a sight! We took some pictures in front of the Duomo. Talked to a few men who asked us where we were from, everybody seems to know California, and Los Angeles. But this fellow was positive it was Chicago that was south of LA, not Orange County! Other times, people seem to think of Miami first when we say California!

We got a chance last night to catch up on responses to the Message board, and I answered a question from Grace, the (ISAA) Chapter President from Indiana, that I hope you'll all check out.

I hope you'll all post your own questions or e-mail them. We are having a great time, and enjoy thinking of you all joining us in our adventure through this wonderful technology.



Monica's Journal, July 22, 1998
A slow day for me, I stayed home and caught up on sleep while Rachel and Sirenna went out and got our reservations at the Central Station in Milan for our trip tomorrow to Rome. We went to the Silver Star again and talked for a while after dinner with Chris and Mara and a really cute Brazillian bartender. We got to see some Country Music Television that they'd taped, since it's not available here anymore on their satellite.

So tomorrow we'll be in Roma, and checking out all the sites that Italy is famous for. Ciao til then!