"Why can't they all be California girls"

We are still in Siena. Tomorrow if all goes well, we will be going to Rome. The weather has been wet for the last few days. There is flooding in Genoa, Carara, Florence and Pisa. Rome has had some flooding, but not terrible.

Caroline let us know that there is a National Transportation Strike scheduled for the 14th. We should be in Rome by that time. We will be walking a lot that day.

Elevators in Italy are small. Now that I think about it every elevator in Europe has been small. I think the reason is that the buildings are 200 years or more in age with walls 3 feet thick. When you redo this type of building, there is not a lot of room for elevators.

European electrical outlets are interesting. Europe is 220 watts as opposed to US 110. When you go shopping for a European trip you buy an adaptor, you also need to purchase a convertor. In this communication age continually charging with one convertor is a pain in the ... .  The electrical wiring makes it a little tougher. In Europe, they do not put outlets on outside walls. The hotels do not have a surplus of outlets to begin with. And, they have two types of outlets - flat and fitted. Convertor only works with flat. So when you arrive the search is on.

They speak of the French Paradox. Trust me, there is an Italian Paradox. The Italian eats a breakfast of "un caffe"and a brioche or bread with lunch meat and cheese (local). Lunch can be a quick panino which is heavy on the bread (delicious) with local cheese, light touch of local cold cut and slices of tomato or a pizza about 12 in in diameter. Commonly, lunch includes a glass of wine or beer. Or, it can be a bowl of pasta. Salads can be hard to find. Lunch time is roughly from noon to 2 PM.
There is a gelato at @ 4PM. Dinner is no earlier than 7PM. Dinner includes wine and includes antipasto and one pasta dish. And, there is always bread - good bread and you are expected to eat it - you want to eat it.

Wine is relatively inexpensive. House wines are great and come by the glass, 1/2 liter or one liter.
Italians walk a lot - I mean a lot. Italians do not snack between meals. The portion are controlled. At dinner, everything is "la carte" which keeps the portions controlled.

In the 5 weeks we have been Italy, it is obvious that there is no obesity epidemic.

Another observation which was confirmed yesterday when I bought a sweater. The sales woman mentioned that I would need a large, large size because, as she put it, Italian men are narrow in the shoulders chest and hips. I am none of the above. This explains why Italian men just dress well. Style is made for them. It also explains why present men's fashion looks bad on American men. They can wear those suits and jackets and actually button them.

I always thought that places like Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Dallas had beautiful women. But, Italy has them all beat. I thought it was "the big city" thing. We have been to Parma, Como and Siena and I am impressed.

Now the bad news. Italians, of all ages, smoke a lot. You see a lot of "roll your own" among the college age kids. Italians do not smoke inside, but do just about any other place.

Yesterday, we took our first real tour. We took a tour of the S
iena side of the Tuscan wine (Chanti) country. I do not completely understand but because of centuries of conflict Tuscan area is split between Florence influence and the Siena influence.

Although it was overcast, the views were spectacular. I was interested in the area because  the Paso Robles area of California has been called "Tuscany with Cowboys".

There are definitely similarities with rolling hills with olive trees and vines. The area we saw resembled the Vineyard/Las Tablas area. Vegetation is more diverse. So similar, but different.
We saw two Chanti Classico registered wineries. I am truly impressed with the wine of the first winery. Short lesson on "Chanti Classico", true Classico will have a "black rooster" emblem wrapper on the neck of the bottle. Chanti Classico has to be, at least, 80% Sangiovese.

There is also a growing popularity for "Super Tuscany Reds".  These wines are a blend of Sangiovese, Merlot, Cabrenet Sauvignon. Both wineries do both wines - personally, I preferred the Chanti Classico.  There are grades of Chanti - Chanti, Chanti Classico,  Chanti Classico Reserve and Chanti Classico Grande.

I definitely want to learn more about Italian wines. I am impressed.