261.April 15

Passau, Germany

I didn't wake us up when I turned off my alarm in the morning, so we went to Venice for an hour, from whence I called mom and she told me that in the mail I had received my fall journal and address book from someone back home in the American south. That cheered me up. Then to Austria, where we ate breakfast at noon. We'll arrive in Salzburg, then Passau at 18:30. Last night in Firenze was a fun evening, the best of times. I hope everyone else made it to their destinations. Lars and I got to Passau after 19:00.

We walked to his house. It is very nice. He has three rooms (kitchen, living room, and bed room: all with very low ceilings. We ate soup, and had tea (almond nectar, thanks to my mom). Then we went pub hopping. At the first pub we met Tom, a thirty- year-old man that Lars might play guitar with. He was with a woman named Doris, who "wished she could speak English better so she could talk to me." I must look for Jim Croce albums for Lars' friend. We left that pub quickly. During the evening we'd each had three pints of excellent wheat beer. We stopped at many pubs, and Lars let me decide the ones I wanted to stay at. The best was in a cellar, very much like the castle basement in the Israeli pub in Tiberias, where we talked about the trip, and how we got along with each other. When we got home, we ate spaghetti, and listened to more music. Before we left for the pubs, we heard Jersey Girl. Lars played some guitar. He is excellent.

1994