I was quite concerned when, upon pulling into the parking lot next to the leaning tower of Piza, we noticed several African and Indian vendors, one of whom actually walked all the way up to our car and followed the car until we parked it. I thought to myself, why would anyone buy from these people? If only everyone were like me, none of these souvenir vendors or street hawkers would be around. I believe photographs are the best souvenirs. Photographs are:
1) An accurate visual representation of the visit or landmark, albeit two-dimensional
2) Free (cost of physical photo paper notwithstanding)
3) Readily available in unlimited supply (assuming a life-long quality camera)
4) Digital for many people, and therefore
5) 100% portable
Add souvenir shops and street vendors to the list of people who would go broke if everyone were like me.
We arrived in Rome by 9 pm (4 stops) and I found the hotel to be better in quality than any other I have stayed in so far this trip. Tomorrow will be interesting with transit to and from Rome (the hotel is 20 k from Rome) but I'm most interested for now in the road bike rental in Mestre, I must hound that man a bit more tomorrow to see if he will reply to my e-mail with a quote on my rental. I shouldn't have thought about it any further, but alas, I allowed myself to dream that one thing in this vacation may actually go my way. More tomorrow.
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