I am back in Italy!
Flew to Milan and then was driven the one hour to Novara.
Humid here in Novara. Very. I can understand why Italians run off to the mountains and sea shore in the summer months. They have no air conditioning!
No air for two reasons. The cost of electricity is one. The other is that most of the buildings are so old it would either be too expensive or too difficult to air condition.
Which means I slept with my bedroom window wide open last night. I also had the benefit of two fans. Hopefully I will be on Mount Blanc this evening where humidity will not be a problem. I have been told the fireplace may have to be used. It is that cool in the evening. Makes sense. Mount Blanc is the highest peak in the Alps and Europe.
Flew Aegean Air again. A treat! Lovely young attendants, stewardesses, hostesses helping. A great meal. Only a two hour flight. Not much more to tell, except for my chat with two of the working ladies.
They are not called attendants or stewardesses. They are hostesses. The hostesses are all young.
I explained how it all works in the U.S. They could not believe men did their work and what they were called and who performed the work was an issue of gender discrimination.
As to age discrimination, they had never heard of such a thing. They were confident that no way would a mature woman be permitted to do their job.
A different country. Different thoughts and concepts. Interesting.
One thing did not change. Clotheslines and drying clothes. They were evident everywhere on my car ride to Novara. Just as in Greece.
I chatted with some friends last night in Novara. The issue? The euro. What else!
They find this present marriage of sorts between Germany and France strange. The two nations have been fighting for years. They were referring to wars. France generally got kicked good by the Germans. They were unable to understand how the French could now be a junior partner with Germany.
The Italians are really mad at the Greeks. with a fervor that did not exist three weeks ago when I left Italy. They feel the Greeks have spent Italian euro money and did it in a wasteful fashion. I find this amusing since Italy is third from the bottom in this euro crisis. It is just a question of time before Germany starts defecating on them.
I was early to bed. A tired day traveling.
Today hopefully Mount Blanc.
Enjoy your day!