Got to Venice safely via British Airways Go. Plane was not towed or otherwise propelled by yak, in contrast to expectations from “budget European airlines”. Much pleased.

Spending a lot of time wading through other American tourists in Piazza San Marco, outnumbered only by pigeons. (See Dave’s post about bread cannon. Much needed.) Struggling to make self understood with small Italian phrases, but not sure if ordering check or asking for portion of fried yak. Somewhat problematic.

Otherwise having lovely time. Eating lots of Italian food and drinking lots of Italian wine. Will blog again soon.

Currently sitting at a “Cyberdeck” internet station at Portsmouth harbor. Keys are somewhat sticky, and forced to sit in ridiculous leather recliner with footpetals. Feel somewhat ridiculous. At least my knees fit under the keyboard, unlike those of tall husband, who looks a little uncomfortable. Just finished touring the HMS Victory (Lord Nelson’s ship at Trafalgar), which was also a bit of a problem for Dave. The beams are about 6 feet above the surface of the deck, so he could stand in between them, but had to duck under each one. When moving quickly, this leads to a very complicated bobbing and weaving motion that takes a great deal of concentration. To his credit, he didn’t hit his head once, although he came close to wiping out by tripping over an iron ring set into the deck (one can either watch the ceiling or the floor, but not both!).

Having a wonderful time. More soon.

The Old Ball & Chain and I are off for a whirlwind tour of Europe. If we were a big black dot and Europe consisted of large blotches of color, our trip might look something like this.