European Vacation Preface

What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from. - T.S. Eliot

Flight leaves in nine hours. To London. Then Eurostar to Paris. Few days there then to Italy. La Spezia via Milan. Later to Rome then to Bologna with day trips to Florence and Venice. Finally to London including seeing a play starring Helen Mirren. There will also be a one-day trip to the D Day landing site.

Watching Midnight in Paris (2011) now while the missus finishes the packing. Makes me want to write like Hemingway or Fitzgerald. I don’t suppose I ever will or for that matter ever come close. But I probably write better than Barney Schultz.

Barney pitched in the majors in the early 60’s. I’ll always remember his big mug because I always seemed to get 20 of his baseball cards when I was kid -- and only one Willie Mays. His cards seemed to always be just that big homely face. I see where he’s still alive at 86 and there’s nothing to indicate that he is a better writer than I am. So there’s that.

Midnight in Paris also makes me want to live in Paris. Then again it doesn’t take much to make me want to live in Paris. Thinking about Paris makes me want to live in Paris. Maybe I will. Then again this first trip to Italy may make me want to live in Rome or Florence.

I love plane flights. They mean new places. They mean a break -- oh wait Gil Bender has just suggested the idea for Exterminating Angel to Luis Bunuel. Brilliant. In addition to its many charms Midnight in Paris makes the point that we overly romanticize past time periods. I constantly come across bloggers who wish they lived in the 30s or 40s. They must love cigarette smoke Jim Crow laws and closeted gays. I think the 70s were great but I wouldn't want to go back. Then again if someone built a time machine there are a lot of places and times I'd like to visit.

I better see if the wife needs any help. Hopefully not but I’ll feel good asking. I’ll try to write everyday during the trip. Posting will depend on internet access.

I'm ready to go.