I'm pleased with how much ground we covered in Italy. We made a day-trip on the Friday to Parma, tunnelling through the Appenines. It was surprisingly warm and summery in Lucca, for November, but suddenly, on the other side of the mountain range, it was winter. I made an appearance in a comics shop called the Pop Store. Attendance was small, but a brave fellow named Alfredo interviewed me in English on video for 45 minutes. When either a transcript or footage turn up I'll let you know. Otherwise, i have no photos of Parma, though in case you think me a philistine, I did visit the cathedral, with Correggio's celebrated ceiling,


and the wonderful old Gothic Baptistry. On the same day we went to Sarzana where I was interviewed in the very old town hall under the auspices of the local shop Comic House, with the translation by a lovely lady from Manchester named Catherine, and then was requested to do a big drawing at an easel. This didn't go too well due to the supplied materials not being up to the challenge due to me not having forwarded any instructions on same, but I may have saved the day by improvising it into a comedy. I have no photo of this event either, perhaps due to the wife of my bosom getting locked in the rest room with the camera. The only record I have of of my visit is this appealing poster I grabbed in passing from inside the window of Comic House:


Apparently this was an ambitious program for one day and it was past midnight when we got back to Lucca.