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Recent News... Just for Pope Gregory... |
2005-05-09 - 8:55 a.m. Leaving for Purgatory He�s going to Venice without you? That�s what I said! �You�re going to the most romantic city on the world without your wife?� But, really, it�s okay. Crackheaded Roland has decided to get from Florence to Venice and back in one day for the sake of the armor in the Doge�s Palace. 3 hours on a train, run across Venice, wait for entry, then to a different train station to get a connection to� We leave for Italy today. Roland is printing out maps and I�m trying to finish reviewing the documents for my business meeting. I suppose I can always finish it at the airport. I always think Purgatory must be like an airport. Rush and struggle from one obstacle to another, a few moments of hope punctuating interminable waiting. I was thinking about this last week, while we were stuck in the Philly airport waiting - It�s always a bad sign when the gate crew resorts to peering out the window hoping to see a plane. Reviewing boring lists of things for compliance seems an appropriate activity for Purgatory. But, if the theory works, we take an evening flight, snooze away, and awaken in Charles de Gaulle for a quick connection to Italy. Has anyone ever been through Paris�s de Gaulle? Whoever said man invents his own hell must�ve been talking about this airport. They should stick Dante�s quote over the terminal doors �Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here.� (Yeah, I know; Italian poet over a French airport. I think the irony would only accentuate the point.) Whoever said travel was glamorous hasn�t been through our modern air transportation system lately. I hate flying commercial. I always try to anticipate the tedium when flying. If I�m braced for it, the torture is more bearable. Besides, if you wait long enough in Purgatory, you will get to Heaven, right? (I'm a Methodist; we don't have Purgatory, but I've read about it.) At the end, Florence awaits. I don�t speak of word of Italian and I have to work for the first of the two weeks while Roland gets to play, but I can�t wait. The entire trip will be worth it for the moment in the Uffuzi where I find my last Ucello - which turns out to be the second Ucello, but that�s a story for another day. � � � 
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