Italy - Buying an Italian Sim Card - by Jill

Yesterday in the vodafone shop in Rome, my daughter and I came accross 3 lovely Australian girls, all first time travelers who were nervously checking their phrase books for the right words -- needless to say, they couldn't find the phrase "I'd like to buy an Italian sim card please". Lucky them -- they were in earshot of our conversation and detected our Aussie accents and asked for help. For all travelers in Italy, buying a sim card is a piece of cake, inexpensive and only takes a few minutes. You only need to show your passport and pay Euro 15, this will allow you to receive unlimited incoming calls on your new Italian number -- even when you're out of credit -- the sim card is already loaded with Euro 5 credit and you can recharge it in any tabacchi store or by walking into any vodafone shop. International SMS/text messages are 30 cents per message. On the way out of the shop - another couple asked me, are you Australian? Do you know how to get your messages from Telstra? -- for that I was no use at all ;)

Florence - A Very Small City - by Jill

On my monthly journey to Florence, I found myself right on the edge of the historic centre for my first apartment inspection -- I go to Florence each month and think I know it pretty well - however - on checking my map for the location of the second apartment I had to inspect I figured on a 20 minute walk, I was surprised after 5 mins to be half way there standing in front of the magnificent medieval Palazzo (see photo) in Piazza Santa Croce that houses some of our most luxurious apartments - on the map this appears to be a long walk, 5 minutes later I was at my appointment to see our latest (unbelievably beautiful) apartment [ apartment Lucrezia Donata ] that also appeared (on the map) to be slightly out of the way, however - in reality it's located in the heart of the historic centre -- and, as the owner proudly boasted, it even has a view of the Duomo from the "throne". So often in the office I hear the sales team trying to explain to clients that even though an apartment is not in Piazza Signoria, as long you are located in the historic centre you are perfectly located -- Florence really is a very small city.

Florence - Taxis from Santa Maria Novella Station - by Jill

I was in Florence today to inspect some new properties and am now definitely convinced that there are no signs directing you to the taxi stand. On my previous visits I have only ever discovered it by walking around the outskirts of the station until I found it, always arriving at the end of the very long queue -- so for anybody arriving by train in Florence in need of a taxi -- don't go to the exit to the left of the right, but go directly ahead through the ticket selling area and make a left at the road -- it appears that everybody getting off the train takes a taxi, so don't waste time!

Peace Be With You - by Michael

April 2005- St Peters- Announcement of the new Pope.

An impromptu stroll down to St Peters resulted in being caught up in what is possibly the world’s biggest news event of the year. At least for the holy folk that is.

It isn’t often that one gets to be a spectator at a historical religious moment.
I must admit I did feel like I was part of the studio audience at a strange religious game show. Journalists were quizzing the crowd on various topics, emotions were riding high and suspense was slashed across the faces of even the most serene nuns. The big question on everyone's lips was WHAT COLOR IS THE SMOKE AND WHO IS BEHIND THE RED CURTAIN?

Where else does one get to see all the worlds Cardinals in one place? The crowd was a sea of priests in their best black suits and nuns in their low key (dare I say drab) outfits.

The atmosphere was electric, similar to that of the 2000 Sydney Olympics. It was a media frenzy. I imagine that most countries had their own correspondent. Being Australian it was good to see Australia’s own Stan Grant up amongst them for CNN.

Of course in this country everyone has to have their input. A flock of nuns were engaged in harmonious group prayer, when an Italian women, fiercely protested “Oh why don’t you sing instead of pray? Sing for us sisters.. SING!” (Obviously this woman was a fan of the Whoopi Goldberg movie ,Sister Act)

Catholic Mike found all of this inspiring. He could feel the energy of the crowd congregated in one space to show their faith and love.
Catholic Mike admired these people for being so devoted to their beliefs. He was pleased to see so many young devotees scatted across the crowd

Everyday Mike tried to suppress his many thoughts. He discussed these thoughts with Catholic Mike:
“I know they are devoted and reject superficious things such as vanity but surely it wouldn’t be a sin to pluck those few stray hairs on the upper lip and eyebrow, and surely there is something basic they can wear that doesn’t have to make them look so......poor. Other thoughts included; “why do some of them have the glow of someone who is on anti depressants?” and
“That priest is absolutely handsome, are you sure he is a Priest? I mean I have never seen a Priest to be so buff”

Catholic Mike enjoyed the Swiss Sisters harmony of Gesu with the Mariah Carey- esque soloist (GeeeEEEESSsoooo GeeeEEESSssooo) So did Everyday Mike except he would have preferred the standard version instead of extended remix. He was also hoping to hear “Oh Happy Day” from the Sister Act soundtrack.

NB: Catholic Mike feels guilt for Everyday Mike’s thoughts, including this blog