At last, some sun! Until today, every moment I've spent in Cortona was
overcast, dreary, or otherwise gloomy. I was beginning to think that
Italia was in revolt, rebelling against the curio-ization of its culture
as exemplified by Frances Mayes. It's not a new battle by any means --
The Olive Garden has been systematically exterminating authentic Italian
culture for years now, using "hospitaliano" like so much Cyclon B. And
certainly there's more blood on my hands than most. But Under the
Tuscan Sun marked a significant escalation in hostilities; I was
beginning to believe that Cortona was trapped in some cultural analogue
to nuclear winter.

But not any more! Today the sun is shining and the temperature perfect.
The only clouds in the sky seem to be there for the express purpose of
providing pleasantly drifting patches of contrast within the rolling
landscape that stretches below. Italy forgives us, and just wants us to
be happy and fat and full of wine.

At least somebody got a good shot. Oh, and I think I've worked out the
problem with posting through Flickr -- it's not a fan of multiword
titles. You'll have to excuse the lack of awful puns.

Can anyone read this? Don't worry if it doesn't make sense. These are
the English instructions for pumping gas. If you can read it, you
might understand why it took us two tries and around $70 to obtain about
5 liters of diesel. Thank goodness for kind-hearted Italians, and the
female travel companions that lure them.