26 Days, Two Hats: A Sojourn Through Italy, France & England
There's a particular joy in a trip that refuses to be just one thing. This one was part music camp, part vacation, and part working mission for the Society of Flight Test Engineers. For twenty-six days I swapped between a guitar case, adventures, reunions, and SFTE business, sometimes in the same day. Here's how it unfolded. Arrival: Italy, August 24 I landed in Italy on the 24th with a bit of a fog that comes with a delayed DFW flight, crossing an ocean, and a missed Heathrow connection. But employing my motto, "flexibility is the key to tactical success," it all worked out. Arriving a few hours late at Milan-Linate, I picked up a rental car and headed out in rush hour for a 1-hour drive to Venegono to pick up my Italian guitar, spending my first night in a new Airbnb aptly named the Villa Puccini (for all its Puccini memorabilia) hosted by a mathematics professor. I went out for a late-night pizza and a birra rosa as a huge thunderstorm brought w...