Ciao

[Rosina Lila]

Hi Elyn,
The weather has become nicer here in Florence and, as per Italian law, all stores are having their yearly sale at the same time which makes shopping quite irresistible.  Thankfully, the Italian mail service is as efficient as the Spanish one; I have been notified that some of the boxes which I sent myself from Milano have already arrived, which is nice because one doesn't have to carry things.
In the bookstores here there is a plethora of new books about the Templars; some are in French and some in German, but only the Italian translations are available here.  I do not like translated books in general, but I have been told that German translates fairly well into English, so that I'll look for the english version in New York.
At the present a best seller here is, of all things, Coelho's book.  the name has been changed to "Il Cammino de Santiago" and, to be fair, it does have a very attractive and imaginative paper cover.
Coelho himself communicates with the spanish Camino List-serv, mostly to refute the oft-repeated assertion that he never made the pilgrimage.  I have kept the messages; if you are interested, I'll forward them to you, and will translate them, if necessary, since they are written in "portunhol".
Will write again,
Regards,
Rosina