trinacriabob

ITA does not have a 747. This is just a mock up if they did. That's a good looking bird. Alitalia had eight 747s and pulled them shortly after 9/11 because of the drop in air traffic and to cut costs. ITA uses the newer A350 and the updated A330-900neo for long haul flights. I have only flown on them domestically and was real excited to learn that they have added a seasonal Rome to Houston nonstop. This is all because they have joined Star Alliance as a function of being picked up by Lufthansa.

When cars had personality ... ... 1978 Cadillac Couple de Ville A lady I knew - Velma - when I was a teenager had one of these with a Cerise Firemist Metallic exterior - sort of a light grapefruit color popular in those years. She knew I loved her car.

The front 2/3 of the car are attractive enough. I don't know much else about it.

I would not get a Super. Find one with the normally aspirated 3800 V6. Toward its final year, they may have gone to a Chevy sourced 3900 V6 or 3500 V6. I guess those are ok if lower mileage, but the Buick 3800 V6 tends to be stellar. I just saw this or would have responded earlier.

I think "the coast is clear," thus, no olive branch ... also, greetings from Sicily - - - - - Q: An Italian, a Greek and a Spaniard go to a bar. Who pays? A: A German.

Good morning

I've learned a few choice phrases in German. Recently, a few buses quarreled with each other by extended honking at a Sicilian airport. There will always be a German or two or three on the shuttle buses leaving the airport, so I turned to one and said, "Die Sizilien ist unterhaltsam." That means "Sicily is entertaining." One of the first things I learned is "die Sieben-vier-sieben ist sehr gut." That means "the 747 is very good."

I have no clue about current American music and I don't like what I hear. I think it really peaked in the seventies, eighties and nineties ... and younger people who come to know that music also come to admit that same thing.

I didn't even know this existed. It was the background music for a photo montage on YouTube. I know next to nothing her except that she was in "A View to a Kill," the last 007 film for Roger Moore. I did not know about her music. She's not really easy on the eyes with her severe look. But this particular cut is easy on the ears and good for interstate driving.

Does anyone know of or have any experience with cardboard wardrobe boxes made for moving? The ones from Home Depot are not that good. With the metal hanger rod extended across the top, it does not prevent torsion in the box and the folding side flap, which is meant to give you a look into the box, is flimsy ... and if you even put small things on top of this tall box, it tends to sink in. Someone out there has to have some good solid wardrobe boxes in their available inventory of moving supplies. Help and ideas, please ...

Some of these famous buildings are hideous, some are interesting with decent parts to them, and a rare few are really nice. The hideous ones include the newer architecture building at University of Washington, Wurster Hall (also architecture) at UC Berkeley, and perhaps the Salk Institute in San Diego. These buildings are cold and soul sucking, so they're hard to be in. They also come from a fairly ugly (on various levels) sixties and seventies granola period. One of these buildings would be a "hybrid" and it's fine. That would be Campbell Hall (again ... architecture) at the University of Virginia, which is definitely brutalist reinforced concrete at the first taller level or two, with an exposed waffle slab at levels above you. However, they soften it up by using brick on the upper floors' exterior, as well as lower floor to ceiling heights. The one brutalist gem would have to be the main library at University of California San Diego. They definitely did not do this to reduce costs because it's a complicated building. However, it's probably a nice space to be inside because of the floor to ceiling windows all around. It's just that there was a wave of putting up these buildings on West Coast campuses, surrounded by eucalyptus or fir and hemlock, and it was usually at hippieish campuses and their atmospheres don't gel with me.

Happy Mother's Day to the mothers in our lives - family, friends, coworkers She came to mind, so I looked for a gif on her. She is originally from Buffalo! Most people have doubles. I don't think she does. Happy Sunday.

Interesting day, this 25th of April! It's a holiday in Italy, as in Festa della Liberazione - that means they liberated themselves from Mussolini ... either in 1945 or 1946 Then, I thought a little bit more and something else popped into my head: it might also be a holiday in Portugal ... this is the day that they got rid of dictator Antonio Salazar ... in 1974. It's almost impossible to forget that if you've been there because they renamed their large harbor suspension bridge from Ponte Salazar to Ponte 25 de Abril. A high functioning democracy is a beautiful thing. Cheers everyone!

This one weirds me out. Everywhere I go, I meet Germans! In grad school ... on vacation ... on this ship. I now have a new German friend who lives in the greater Houston area. I don't have any signs on my head! They're friendlier to me than Italians.

About a week at sea after departing the Atlantic Seaboard and on schedule to dock in the Azores tomorrow. I've always been curious about these islands. I'm looking forward to this ... a lush, volcanic archipelago 900 miles from the coast of Portugal. You could definitely hang out by the pool at the beginning of the voyage. Now, it's cool and comfortable, so no one is out by the pools, unless it's the one that's covered by the dome. I'm hoping that pool weather will come back once we enter the Mediterranean. There are a lot of nice people aboard, but a few oddballls stand out. I do not include myself in that latter group.