Guess who's back

For those who guessed me, well done, your prize is in the post. Unfortunately the post here is as efficient as Gordon Brown's PR, so don't be holding your breath.

Happily we don't seem to have been sucked into a vortex underneath the French/Swiss border after they started the Hadron experiment, which is nice. I've been in limbo for donkeys now, but it's nice not to know it's for infinity and universal.

I'm afraid that this time round I probably won't 'blog on' as often as I did last time. I think most of my breath-taking insights into Italy have already been exhausted previously, so these posts will probably be short and sweet.

So, I'm back in Italy. I arrived in Genoa last night and had a few Guinness' (is the plural Guinni?) with Stevie. La Lepre is too far away, so we went to the Tartan Bar, who for newcomers to my blog is a Scottish pub, run exclusively by Italians, who think that anything British is ok to put in a Scottish pub. So, there's the obligatory tacky tartan, but also pictures of Beefeaters and other such English stuff.

Last night as I lay in my comfortable bed (a far cry from my previous flat), I had the funny feeling of: "My God, what am I doing here again?" It's really strange to think that I'll not be back in the comforting cold, dark and misery of Scotland until Christmas time. I'm sure I'll struggle on bravely, but it is quite strange to know I'll not see your smiling faces for a while.

That said, it is quite nice to be back. Within about an hour I'd seen as many pretty ladies as I saw in the whole of August in Edinburgh. That's not meant to be a slight on Scottish girls, but to use a football analogy, it's like Elgin City versus Inter Milan.

I'd forgotten how hellishly hot it is though. I'm sitting in a cafe writing this, and thankfully I've stopped sweating because I'm sitting on a leather seat, and that's not a good combination. I was lulled into a general chill while in Edinburgh, but that's now been blasted away in a blaze of humidity and sunshine. It was 26 degrees at 10pm yesterday, I imagine about 20 degrees warmer than Edinburgh.

I also knew I was out of Scotland at Milan airport yesterday, when I started to queue for the bus. Suddenly a swarm of Italians clustered round the door (queueing just isn't for them). I took this as my cue to push a couple of old ladies and then scowl at them for the temerity of blocking my path. Oh, how I've missed this place!!

I think that's about me, as I've milked my cappuccino for about an hour now, and either the barman 'likes' me, or it's my cue to pay or order more. It's like San Francisco all over again! Ahhh!

Untill next time, so long, farewell, auf weidersehn and goodbye.