Observations during that week in Italy...

***Taking the train in Italy is very similar to taking the train in France. Why can't Amtrak get its act together and run itself more efficiently?!?!

***Would love it if the US had piazzas, but it would be overrun with teenagers on skateboards and laden with crime. It's too bad I am so cynical about the US but I think it really speaks to the differences between US and European cities/cultures.

***Can Rick Steves hire me as a freelance archivist?

***Trains are efficient. Have taken them about 90% more in Europe than in the US:

1997 September to November:
*London to Stratford-Upon-Avon
*Stratford-Upon-Avon to Edinburgh
*Edinburgh to Inverness
*Inverness to Edinburgh
*Edinburgh to London
*London to Paris

*Paris to Rennes
*Rennes to Strasbourg
*Rennes to Geneva
*Rennes to Bruseels
*Brussels to Amsterdam
*Amsterdam to Berlin
*Berlin to Paris
*Paris to Rennes
*Rennes to Paris
*Rennes to Charles deGaulle (CDG)

2008:
*Paris to Rennes

I heart SNCF. TrenItalia is pretty OK too!