Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night

Another long day on the bus brought us through Assisi, where visitors were much more quiet in the church(possibly due to armed military guards?), a small town in Umbria with a lovely little sandwich shop and a park where I found a four leaf clover, and finally to Rome, where the first third of the evening was a disaster but the rest of the night was worth the trouble.

A partial chance of rain was forecast for early evening, and it was clear, when it was time to get off the bus for a walking tour and dinner, that a thunderstorm was imminent.  Rather than changing our plans in any way, we were all forced to get off the bus in the rain, and the only solution offered was to buy an umbrella from a street vendor at our own expense.  We sloshed over the cobblestone streets dodging cars, for what seemed like miles.  We saw the promised sights, but taking photos was almost impossible.  After being compelled to climb the Spanish stairs in the rain, some of the older folks in our group finally wore out and had to pay for a taxi to get to the restaurant.  Luckily no one fell back down again.  The rain finally stopped as the rest of us began to make our way on foot, and the remainder of the walk was relatively pleasant.  Dinner was, of course, an enormous four course affair accompanied by live music from a talented flautist, and clever waiters who found all manner of ways to help entertain us.  I'm back in bed now with a full belly and drooping eyelids, so it's time to say buona notte.