borogove

serge here. we are back in tunisia after our quick jaunt through italy. tuscany was lovely, as expected, and we really enjoyed the chance to spend some time with good friends (actually, i suspect that sabrina would have been excited to spend time with anyone who wasn't me for a change) in a lovely house near florence. we did the usual tourist thing, going to quaint old towns and eating delicious pasta and pizza. so, just imagine us soaking up the culture and the scenery every day and playing scrabble (with an italian-english dictionary, which led to not a few controversies).

sabrina may disagree, but for me the highlight (although that may not be the right word) was when several of us went to a Serie A soccer game between two teams at the bottom of the standings, and the winner would stay in the first division but the loser would get sent down. the home team, fiorentina, pulled out a decisive victory that led to pandemonium in the stadium and, we thought, joy all around. we discovered our mistake when we got to the train station to find a train full of visiting supporters of the losing team, yelling at a train full of jubilant and taunting fiorentina fans. of course, the platform where we were waiting for our train was directly between the two groups. the platform quickly filled up with riot police who dealt with the situation professionally and quickly, and we left without incident. it was probably not as exciting as it seemed to us, but we were still glad to get away from this minor bout of soccer rioting.

also, one day we were enjoying breakfast in the yard when i was attacked by a very small bird. the consensus was that it must not have liked my pajamas, but i can't say for sure. i'm not the first member of my family to come under avian attack, so it may just be a martinez thing. at any rate, i survived its talons with minimal damage.

we took the ferry back on saturday night (there was a swimming pool, but it was too cold to use it) and on sunday moved into our house in sidi bou said. it was absolutely delightful to cook a meal at home for a change. now we're cleaning it up and just hoping that someone will come visit to make use of all our space. that means you, gentle reader--we hope to see you soon.