Back in Bologna!

Wow!I's been a whole year since I started my Adventures in Editoriania blog. Now that I'm back in Bologna, I thought I'd reflect on a few lessons I learned last time around that I hope will have stood me in good stead:
1)I packed light!In an attempt to minimize the number of bag carried this year, I gave everyone LOTS of notice about shipping dates. If a book was going to Bologna, it had to get shipped by mid-February since I was not carrying an extra book suitcase this year. It worked, too! I have one suitcase and a little carry-one bag that attaches to the top of the suitcase. I borrowed my son's notebook computer and the company iPad so I didn't have to take my big laptop.

Sweet.

2) I arrived at the airport in Toronto with 2 hours to spare - and I used some of that time to triple check that I was waiting at the right gate. Unlike last year.
I also too the opportunity to take this picture of my Wonder Woman send-off card from my husband:

3) I had plenty of reading material loaded onto my iPad (thanks, Uma!) and my notebook, so the 5 hour stopover in Frankfurt went by quickly enough.

4) After I settled into my room in Rome, I went for dinner and then thought I'd go back to the train station to sort out my ticket to Bologna for the next day. I remember being utterly bewildered by the train station last year, wandering around lugging two suitcases, a briefcase and a purse. SO I thought, aha, I'll do a sort of reconnaissance mission now while I don't have my suitcase with me. But that turned out to be a mistake. I got a bit turned around when I left the pizza place and ended up walking in the complete opposite direction. Then I noticed it was starting to get dark and I was kinda lost. Without a map. Hmm. So I figured, no problem. I can't have gone too far. Just walk with confidence and everything will be fine. So, I was marching along, looking for all the world like I knew exactly where I was going, when my foot caught on one of those quaint cobblestones and I flew forward, landing prone on the sidewalk in front of a bemused fellow on a scooter. I jumped up, smiled and waved at him, and kept marching along, pretending that my knees weren't a bloody bruised mess under my yoga pants. (Seriously - they're shredded! But I'll spare you all the visuals this time.) So, I didn't get around to sorting out the train that night. I was just grateful to get back to the hotel. Perhaps fatigue and a glass of wine are not the best precursors to reconnaissance missions. Lesson learned for next year.

Yes. This is a drawer full of cookies. And Awesome.

5 )Still managed to get on the train to Bologna without incident and arrived at my b&b in Bologna this afternoon. I'm staying with Ali MacDonald, agent extraordinaire from The Rights Factory. This place is great! I can make tea any time I like - even in my jammies! - without having to go exploring the neighbourhood in the dark. And the room came with cookies! Worth the price of admission alone, right there.

So, lessons learned for next year, thus far:
Pack a small first aid kit.
Pack a map.
Fatigue + wine aren't a good combo if you're going on an explore.
Or if you are going to attempt to apply nail polish, either, apparently.