Last Rominations

Perfect angel-weather

The queue to the Vatican. (couldn't fit it all in the pic)

"The Typewriter"

Crap the Vatican didn't bother stealing

Pigeon poignant?

I liked this bloke

He who hesitates...

Gimme some of that!

We've spent four days in Rome now and we've earned our blisters. We sought out the few corners of the city that had been missed and we are ready for a holiday. We spent seven hours meandering through the streets and managed to avoid the Rome-bladder-trap (where you are stuck with a time-bomb in your belly) very well indeed. Jane didn't get veggies soon enough and is feeling a little ill but managed to pull through a big day.

We wanted to buy another bag today but left it too late. We've accumulated another few cubic feet of stuff and need a place for it. It will all fit within our baggage allowance though.

Jane put the difference between Italy and France very well. France will always be a stranger but Italy is someone you have known for a while. It's a big difference, and it makes normal life easier to attain. It was the Irish and the Italians (with a little Greek help) that made Australia bearable. I can see why here. The traffic is well-mannered yet complex. Everything is achieved with little aggravation, no road-rage, no rudeness, just flow. From buses to horses and carriages and bicycles, all is assimilated into the flow.

The only thing we don't understand is why so many motorcycle riders drag one foot in the air. Is it an off-shoot of GP racing? The French do it more but it seems to be modish here too. I can't figure it. A good rider rarely needs to touch the ground. Only Harley riders drag their feet like infants on tricycles. Any answers out there?



Apropos of nothing

I was listening to the Science Show on Radio National yesterday (podcast) and it talked about the Dunning Kruger Effect. It is the very common situation where the most confident are the least intelligent and vica versa. Arrogance is a direct offshoot of stupidity and modesty often arises from competency. It explains the Republican party, the Liberal Party (an Australian oxymoron), the futility of democracy and the paradoxical nature of ambition.

This idea seems to be proved, beyond doubt by George Idiot Bush yet completely undermined by Barack Obama. A tough one I know.
It is worth looking up because it causes even me to pause for thought.

We are booked into a hotel on Venice tomorrow. A very fast train will take us to the vanishing city and we will then be off to Zurich. Maybe we'll drive to Paris from there.