The real planning began last Thursday, when Mike and I sat on the bed. With the Europe map, a supplemental map, a list of tentatively 44 cities, and two guidebooks finally before us, we started planning our route. As we traced our trajectory through Ireland, the UK, France, the Netherlands, Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria, Italy, Spain and Portugal, we cut out 20 cities.
A couple weekends ago, a man named Austin I met at a friend’s graduation party stood inches from my face speaking rapidly in Italian.
“Parla l’italiano?” Austin said. He brought the tip of his nose closer to my forehead. The slim man towered over me.