Riding Around on the Carouse-e-el

While waiting for the re-wired money to be accepted by our Italian bank this time, I must run to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to meet Prince Sultan bin Salman, who in 1985 went up in the NASA Space Shuttle.

On the 5:00 a.m. drive to Rome we pass, at the turn off to the new property, a burning car that has driven into a roadside ditch and exploded in the early morning hours . I don't believe in omens, but my Italian driver grabs his crotch and suggests I should do the same anyway. A gesture to ward of bad luck.

2.5 hours later, at Rome's Da Vinci Airport, I board my plane to Frankfort, Germany, where I expect to catch a flight to Riyadh. 2.5 hours later, I arrive in Frankfort having missed that flight. At the Luftansa info desk I am told there is simply no other plane that can get me to Riyadh in time for the meeting that day, so, after a 3.0-hour lay over, I board a return flight to Rome and arrive back at Podere Villore around ten 0'clock that evening.

But there is some good news: The money has cleared, and the family has agreed to reconvene for the sale on May 22nd at noon.