So. I’m going to Rome.

Peopled keep asking me how I know what kind of clothes to pack.

The answer is I don’t.

I don’t have any idea what the weather’s going to be like. I assume it’s going to be about like it is here, which means it could be 9o° in the shade, or it could be snowing.

Here is what I am packing, though:

3 long-sleeved or 3/4 sleeved t-shirt-type shirts, only nicer
1 gray short sleeved shirt
1 cotton cardigan
1 pair of jeans
1 pair of shoes
1 something to sleep in
6 pairs of underwear, 8 pairs of socks
I will be wearing an olive pair of chinos, a button-up shirt, a fleece, and the requisite underpinnings and shoes.

Plus, you know, contact solution, my migraine prevention program and abortives*, earplugs, the excessively important Q-tips, that sort of thing.

We have strategically booked ourselves a place in Florence with a washer/dryer right smack in the middle of the trip so we can do laundry.

The goal is to go with just one suitcase apiece, and one personal bag. I will jettison whatever I have to to make that happen; after all, they do sell underwear in Europe.

In other news, it’s shockingly easy to get an audience with the pope. We didn’t get one, because for one thing, we’re not Catholic, and for another, this pope kinda gives me the creeps. If it were still JPII, you bet I’d be lining up to meet His Popiness, though.

We are going to the Sistine Chapel, though, and St. Peter’s, and we know all about how you can tell if he’s in residence by if the towel is hanging out the window. I do not know if the towel is his damp bath towel or not, but I assume it is.

I have located several yarn stores that I would like to visit there, but their names are in Italian, and the street names are Italian, so chances of me being able to find them on purpose are somewhere between slim and none, and Slim just left town. Unless I can find an excellent map.

We’re leaving two weeks from next Tuesday. How crazy is that?