A routine, of sorts
[ROME] Staying on the Via di S. Prassede, which is just a candle's throw away from the magnificent basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. The typical day begins by turning onto the Via di S. Martino Ai Monti where the very friendly character running the corner newsstand hands over The International Herald Tribune in exchange for two euros, and the paper is then enjoyed over a cappuccino e cornetto (typically 1.10 euro) in one of the many cafes along the Largo Brancaccio.
Then it's time for blogging and there is no shortage of keyboards in this part of Rome as every second premises seems to offer “Internet” or “Internet Phone”. The quality of service ranges from the average (slow connections, clunky keyboards, small screens, tiny cubicles) to the impressive (ADSL 640 KBPS, webcam, scanner, Office XP, Telnet and Japanese, Korean, Chinese and Arabic support). That latter range of services is offered by the Internet Point group, which has outlets near Santa Maria Maggiore, Termini station, the Vatican Museum, Piazza Navona and the Pantheon.
Diarist of the day: Lord Longford, 24 February 1981"The papers tell us that Prince Charles's engagement to Lady Diana Spencer will be announced today. [His wife] Elizabeth's book on the Queen Mother will be out in June; there will be just time to insert a statement that the engagement will give special pleasure to Prince Charles's grandmother. It all fits in very well with Elisabeth's conception of the Queen as a sublime exemplar of the family principle. We learn that Lady Diana's parents have a house next door to Sandringham and that her father was an equerry of King George VI. Elizabeth's thinks of saying in he book that 'Lady Diana will fit into the royal family like a hand into a glove' this, however, is too much of a cliché - can I think of a better simile? I rack my brains hopelessly. She then comes up with this: 'She will fit in like a royal crest into its nest.' It is this which gives Elizabeth, in addition to all her academic qualities, the edge on other biographers."
