travel update: alive and kicking

Back again - up in the Lake Como region, northern Italy, until Friday (I think).

Thank you to dbalthasar for letting me stay with you while in Chapel Hill - and for driving me around and taking me places, and, oh everything!! It was wonderful to meet you and penknife and see amenirdis again!

There was a lot of history of the region (which I do love), and a lot of social history, too, since both dbalthasar and amenirdis are history geeks and took me around during the day.

There was a lot of eating, too. Quite a lot of eating, as I recall, of really delicious food. Plus meeting fictional characters. Which was equally interesting. (But somewhat less delicious.)

And a visit to a quilt shop. :D Oddly, that was the only visit I made to a quilt shop during my trip in the US (the New York fabric house doesn't really count - it wasn't quilts).

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New York intarwebs was actually rather hard to come by (the hotel I was at charged $14 for 24 hours of internet, unless you went down to the lobby, which was small and echoey and not really suitable for intarwebsing.

Most places had free internet though once you bought something to eat, so I could check my mail, post photos via Instagram, and generally keep a weather eye on things. (Not that there's all that much to keep an eye on.)

It was lovely meeting evil_plotbunny and meekosan - I'm sorry we couldn't spend more time together, but it was so nice to meet you guys!

I must say that I enjoyed New York more the second time around. Probably because, twelve years after my first visit, I have a much better idea of how to approach travelling around a city - and a better grip on America as a culture and what to expect. Also, I was in Midtown instead of Uptown, and a bit more of a dab hand at navigating a strange and foreign metro system.

If I go back to NY again, I'll probably make more time to go to the galleries and museums, find actual delis instead of eating at restaurants, and actually make inroads into Central Park instead of hovering on the edge of the great expanse of green and deciding that navigating roads is easier. :)

And, you know, dragging people around and exclaiming at things I consider 'weird'. ;)

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I'll post Venice and Lake Como all together in a few days, maybe. The parentals (and my Uncle) are getting a little on my nerves right now, what with enclosed spaces and no time out. (By which I mean at least 2-3 hours a day of brainspace so I can at least attempt to write the stories that are kicking my ass. ARGH.)