My Second Visitor*

Okay, Joanna did not actually come to Bologna, but I think she still counts as a visitor. We will just mark the visit with an asterisk....Joanna and her family decided to spend some time in Florence before spending the holidays in France. So, I decided to take advantage of the Italian rail system and pay her a visit. [As a side note, the trains were running on time yesterday; it was truly amazing. Only a 5 minute delay in the morning. Amazing....] I arrived at noon and we went to a lovely restaurant across the river for lunch. The menu was in Italian, as opposed to English, which is always a good sign. You would be amazed at the number of menus, even in Bologna, that are written in both Italian and English. Anyway, after lunch we visited the Pitti Palace and took in a very special exhibit....

Unfortunately, after the Palace and a quick tea, I had to head back to Bologna. I was going to stay for dinner, but being up past 3 AM for 5 nights in a row ensured that if I had stayed in Florence for dinner, I would have fallen asleep in my primi piatto. I had already started the day with a doppio espresso, followed shortly after with a cappuccino....So, I was on a 7:15 PM train back to Bologna....

Anyway, here is a picture of my friend Joanna, at the cafe where we had tea:


Oh, I guess I forgot to mention how I know Joanna....Joanna interned with me at New America Foundation last year and was one of my co-conspirators during my first tour-of-duty in Washington, D.C. What times we had....Our other fellow pod-mate, Swati, is currently a superstar in LA and, sadly, could not join us yesterday. But she was definitely thought of often....So, to that end, I also include a picture of the 3 of us at the DCI Group's Inaugural Party, held in Jan. 2005. Our good friend, JP, hooked us up with tickets. Boy did we have fun masquerading as Republicans that night....