Halloween in Tuscany

Friday Events: Awoke early today worried about performance. This morning we were to try 'Killer Breakfast' here at Lucca. This is our signature event at conventions: a game that we play usually with an audience of over a thousand people at Gencon each year. But this is a performance of satire ... and my mind was filled with misgivings on how it would translate in Italian ... especially since I do not speak the language practically at all. Comedy through translators? It sounds (even as I write it) like an idea absolutely ripe for disaster. So I awoke at 5:30 am and worked on Thursday's blog entry and tried to think my way through what the event would be like.

Laura and I got ready for the day, went downstairs in our hotel ... the lovely and quaint Universo ... to ask about where we could have breakfast. The staff at the desk were surprised: didn't we know that there was a dining room next to the lobby where we could have a breakfast that was included with our room? No, we had not known, but were grateful for the incredible baked free-range eggs, fruit, yogurt (actual yogurt, unlike in the States) fresh breads, cheese and juice.

We then went back to the room, gathered up our HUGE amount of needed materials for the event (computer backpack, camera case and large rolling bag filled with the t-shirt prizes and various props we use for the event and headed out into the rainy street. We felt and probably looked like upscale homeless people but we have notices that people here in Lucca often wheel around such suit cases through the cobblestone streets.

We got to the event early and were fortunate to have BOTH of the translators there to help us. One of them would translate my words for the audience and players ... the other would translate the player's responses to me. We got a late start after some technical difficulties and the show opened with our tribute to Gary Gygax, who passed away earlier this year.

To our wonder, the audience broke into spontaneous applause for Gary. They all knew who he was and all understood what the tribute was about. It was an incredible moment in which we realized just how far reaching our influence can be as these people cheered his memory from half a world away.

Laura said before the event not to worry about it because these people were there to have a good time and that they wanted us to succeed. She was absolutely right: despite the fact that the timing of the jokes was completely off and the pacing of the show was much slower than either of us were use to it turned out delightfully. Laura and I sang our opening song with gusto entirely in English but the audience clapped in time to the music, sang when they could and in the end not only applauded but thunderously stomped the tent boards beneath us. It was amazing. Our t-shirts were a huge hit as prizes and there were times when I actually understood the responses from the players before the translation. It was also FAR more work than I was used to doing at this event ... and it normally about kills me. Not only two hours of improv but improv in a language I barely understand left me soaked in my own sweat and completely exhausted.

Laura arranged for us to have lunch back on the wall at the 'stables' restaurant we first ate at here in Lucca so that we could have some quiet and a place to sit down. It was perfect. We had a lovely lunch and then returned to our hotel for a quick change of clothes and then back to the convention for our last two events of the day.

The first was an appearance with Luca Giuliani, the translator of the Dungeons and Dragons books into Italian. It turns out that he is a literature professor here in Italy with some very enthusiastic views on role playing as a social phenomenon and its cultural impact. His English is marginally better than my Italian but through our translator we began having a rather interesting conversation. He suggested a format for the presentation of the 'Thanks Gary: a tribute to Gary Gygax.' The pointed out that we should try to avoid making this a seminar about the Hickmans or Dragonlance but keep it focused on the contributions of Gary. I quite agreed and we went onstage.

Then Luca Giuliani proceeded to open the event and asked us a few questions about Gary Gygax but then started asking us questions about our own works, Dragonlance and how we came into gaming. I kept steering the conversation away from us and back to the topic of Gary but he kept addressing us and asking us about our own work.

After the seminar we went to the Armenia booth -- our Italian publishers ... for a scheduled signing. We were exhausted after so long a day and despite the really wonderful fans that stopped by, we were relieved when it became time for us to leave.

The original restaurant that we had been scheduled for was not available for the evening, so our hosts booked us into a place called All'Olivos. It was down a back street east of the central square in the town but turned out to be very classy place. I had a seafood dish that included prawns and shrimp. (Yes, in the United States they are considered the same thing but not here ... they are both crustations but otherwise widely different critters.) We noticed a number of costumed children visiting the shops in the evening ... apparently their practice on Halloween. Otherwise it was a quite evening.

We picked up a pair of Coke Zeros on the way home at the local Gelateria and then retired for the night. It was an exhausting day but the next day (which we thought would be lighter) shaped up to be long as well ... a number of interviews were added to the schedule which fills up our time.

Musings: Everywhere we go in the town, visitors keep asking Laura ... in Italian ... for directions. There must be something about my beautiful wife that looks local Italian. It is interesting, however, that in France people always ask her if she is French. I apparently have a very European looking wife.

Vaughban Walls

Thursday Events: We had difficulty getting to sleep last night but a wakeup call and two separate alarms managed to get us up and moving before 8:30 a.m.

The skies were still leaden and raining intermittently, as Laura and I set out for to find some quick breakfast. We had to hurry because we were scheduled for a 10:00 appearance at the 'Game Olympics' opening ceremony -- an event of which our Killer Breakfast has somehow become a part.

We made our morning appearance, said a few words before the group with the help of our translator. Suddenly, I came to understand just what an uphill battle we would have with our Killer Breakfast using a translator ... everything will take twice as long and the comedic timing will be completely off. We can only hope for the best.

We signed books for a while in the Armenia booth -- our Italian Publisher. There were a number of people there who wanted to have our autograph even though we weren't scheduled for a signing. Our editor Allesandro seemed upset that there wasn't a huge turnout ... he blamed the rain. I thought everything was fabulous. Oh, and by the way, in case you didn't know ... just click on any of these pictures to get the full resolution picture.


We then came upon this sight -- apparently the need some very fast cars for the polizia in Italy. I have seen some pursuit vehicles in my time but NEVER a police Lamborghini before today!

Laura and I then had a rather terrible quick lunch and then left the convention for our hotel. Laura needed some bandaides for her feet -- the new boots need some breaking in -- and after a quick change we were out on the streets for our adventure on the walls of Lucca. The entire ancient, central city (which originated before Roman rule) is surrounded by a much later wall from the Republic period after the Vaughban style. The rain was now punctuated by wind but we soldiered on.

We were quickly rewarded. No sooner had the sun came out and we were rewarded with some stunning views of the walls and the town. The walls are thirty feet tall on the outside with various inlets and outlets to make attacking them impossible without entering into a crossfire. The entire two and a half mile perimeter of the town is surrounded by this wall. Before the World War I this wall was also fixed with mounted canons all around it perimeter. When the Austrians withdrew, however, they took all of the canons with them. Now the walls are planted as a city park where the citizens and visitors walk and jog. The old battlements are now fitted with playgrounds. There are some dungeons which still remain but the gamers find uses for them during the convention.

The breaking sun brought this wonderful sight of a double rainbow that arched down out of the sky onto the 'Duomo' -- the Lucca Cathedral. We saw many amazing sites from the wall and through the town ... the pictures tell you far better than my words can.

While we were on the wall, one of the Lamborghini Police cars was cruising on the road that runs atop the wall. Now, cars aren't allowed on the wall any more except official ones and this one looked like one of Grampa Hickman's perfect commercials ... it was framed under a canopy of trees with dappled sunlight. It was just too good a shot not to take. I pulled out my HD video camera and knelt down to get the low shot of the car. Laura was up ahead as the magnificent machine approached. They obviously saw me as they stopped next to Laura and turned on their flashing lights. Then they revved up that incredible engine -- that perfectly tuned machine whine that sounds more like a purr -- and then popped the clutch. The Lamborghini shot toward me at an incredible speed. Somewhere in my mind I thought, this shot is unbelievable and another part of my brain shouted 'Don't move!' The Police Lamborghini shot past me by inches but it was an incredible piece of footage. It was also such an adrenaline rush that it took me twenty minutes just to calm down. You have to see it to believe it.

We were unable to make the complete circuit of the wall as we were expected for our first official signing of the day, so we cut across the center of town and back to the hotel. A quick freshening and then off back to the gaming tent for our official signing. We had met Joe Dever that morning, a brilliant and charming Englishman who has a brilliant take on American politics and a far better grasp of us than I think we may have ourselves. It is a delight to talk with him.

That evening, we were invited to a special opening dinner and award ceremony that was going to be attended by the mayor of Lucca and pretty much all of the guests of the convention. It was held in an old church that the town had converted into a meeting hall. Armed with our invitation (nothing happens apparently without either a paper invitation or a ticket here) we were escorted to the church by our guide Nicola. We met up with Larry Elmore, Joe Dever and a number of other the guests of honor whom we have met and went into the long, narrow hall where they were to serve us dinner.

Here we first encountered what has been explained to us as being 'an Italian line.' By that, they mean no line at all. Long tables filled one side of the narrow hall ... far too narrow to allow anyone to pass and move further down ... and we presume that it was filled with food from one end to the other. Presume because none of us got a good look at it. One of the Italian artists clasped me on the shoulder and said, "it is an Italian line ... just push your way to the front and take courage!" A number of the guests had just come from a German show -- a place where lines are the first thing formed and inviolate -- so the idea of this rugby-style dining was all the more distressing. However, we banded together, formed a flying wedge and pushed me to the front where I proceeded to airlift plates, cutlery and food over my head to the rest of our group. Food was had but it came close to costing us our lives.

We were then herded from the dining hall (which we had renamed 'the trough') through a small set of doors into the main transcept of the church. It was a beautiful ancient church that was still being restored although it also had a huge stage at the front with a massive projection screen. The stage was surrounded by Plexiglas shielding. Hmm. All of the celebrities ... including Christopher Peterson who owns Fantasy Flight Games ... were hustled back behind the stage by the restored confessionals to prepare for our introductions. As they were an hour late in getting started, they decided to just hand us all our commemorative plaques in their red plush boxes and push us out onto the stage. The floor manager was urging us on; I told Laura to go ahead but she indicated there was no way in church she was going out on that stage first. So, no other celebrities leading the way, I stepped out on stage. Laura followed.

It was a strange feeling standing there above the pews filled to the back of the ancient church with cheering and applauding artists and professionals. A little uncomfortable.

We returned to our hotel late and managed at last to get to bed. A big day tomorrow with the majority of our events.

Musings: We understand the elections going on back home have reached a fever pitch. We are currently just as glad to have already voted and may now avoid the fever. It is true that we will be going home to a different America than the one we left ... but we can only hope that is for the best. Joe Dever tells us that the world is looking to this election for the coming world ... all I can think of is that we do not offer the world much ... or ourselves for that matter either.

Bucca di Santantonio

Wednesday Events: After an incredible dinner last night with all of the guest services people from the convention and a number of the convention stars, Laura and I didn't get to bed until 1:00 am this morning. Laura gave me a pair of Excedrin PM to help me sleep.

At one o'clock the following afternoon, I managed to drag myself out of bed. No more Excedrin PM. Not ten minutes had gone by before the phone rang. It was our 'handler' from the convention wanting to know if he could arrange our lunch. We pulled ourselves together ... mostly ... and met him down in the lobby of our Hotel Universo.

It has been raining almost constantly since we arrived ... sometimes heavier than others. Our umbrellas have been invaluable. The gray skies, however, have not dimmed the experience in the least.

Nicola, our translator and guest services aid, had arranged lunch for us ON the great fortification wall surrounding the town. There is a restaurant there which was created inside what use to be the horse stables of the old Republic. Nicola left us there for lunch on our own. We struggled through ordering but the wonderful thing about Italy is that most of the people here manage to speak at least SOME English ... and their English is certainly better than my Italian. Between us we manage to get by. Not only do we NOT starve, but we are constantly being treated to incredible meals no matter how badly we try to mix up the menu. We have discovered, however, that the Italian idea of cooked beef is to make sure that it is no longer moving. ALL their beef is prepared extremely rare, which it turns out is fine because the Italian beef is incredible.

Laura and I explored the town after lunch. We decided that she needed some Italian boots to fend of the rain. (Well, if you need an excuse to purchase Italian-made leather boots, it's as good as any.) We wandered among the extremely tight streets, found an ATM, and then found a wonderful little corner shop with a group of snippy shop girls who were at least willing to allow us to purchase shoes from them. Laura found a pair of wonderful high black leather boots that fit her perfectly. She may have trouble finding shoes that fit in the States but here the European styles fit her as though they were made for her.

We arrived back at the hotel to find Nicola waiting for us. He wanted to know if we wanted to take a tour of the convention. With a quick change of ... shoes ... Laura was ready to go. We set off down across Piazza Napolione and turned south at a church then passed through one of the ancient gates through the city wall and into the great games tent. It was enormous and VERY exciting. We will be signing books right next to the main entrance. We also were shown where Killer Breakfast will be held and were introduced to our interpreter -- and it should be a lot of fun. While we were wandering about we were approached by a pair of Italian fans who were working a costume booth. They recognized me, came up and wanted us to sign their book and look at a costume they had made. It turned out to be the red robes of Raistlin -- a character from our Dragonlance books -- with hand-embroidered edges.

It was truly magnificent. They were so excited, even in their broken English, to get their books signed and get pictures of us standing next to their costume. Laura and I realized that they made us feel at home ... these fans are the same fans we've met everywhere else in the world. We can be at home here in Italy as well.

Sylvia, the head of guest services, arranged our dinner for us at Bucca di Santantonio ... a restaurant that I had previously read about in a guidebook as being THE place to eat in Lucca. We had found it the day before but, oddly, I had forgotten just where ... we had to return to the hotel for directions. Up the street to the square by the great church and then left across the square and down a narrow street ... at last we were there. The staff there welcomed us warmly and everyone on the staff spoke perfect English ... something of a relief. It was the most romantic of restaurants with brass kettles and musical instruments hanging from the ceiling. Laura had a Tortellini followed by Pork Fillet al Pucini in a black truffle sauce. I had a Mushroom Risotto followed by a Cubed Swordfish in a Marjoram sauce. It was all made there from scratch and was completely beyond description fabulous. We were completely overcome by desert: a pear tort with warm vanilla cream sauce.

We are back in our rooms. The rain is falling gently outside our open windows looking out over the Piazza Napolione and we are looking forward to a wonderful convention.

Pictures tomorrow with any luck. Our connection to the internet is not always reliable.

Musings: Laura noted this evening during dinner that our memories of Italy from our last trip were filled with bright colors and contrasts. We were here in June when the sun was bright and shining and everything was vivid. Now, in the rainy season, everything is muted. The sky is leaden and rainy, the cobblestone streets are shiny under the dull sky and the lighting in the hotel is also subdued. It is a different Italy that we are experiencing this time ... and still a warm and delightful experience. More real, perhaps, in some ways than the fantasy trip aboard the cruise ship and yet also magical in its own way.

Buon Giurno, Tuscany!

Tuesday Events: Today started somewhere over the North Atlantic with Laura and I on a Delta Airlines flight heading for Paris. We watched the Kevin Costner movie 'Swing Vote' in the first part of the flight. Laura managed to sleep quite soundly and I managed some light sleep during the flight. We landed without incident at Charles De Gaulle International and disembarked.

We understood that getting through the Paris Airport could be task, especially since we were having to change terminals to a regional jet concourse separate from the 'heavies AND didn't have any boarding passes for our flight from Paris to Florence. We DID have a map from the website telling us how to manage this feat of navigation. As it turned out, we found an electronic kiosk soon after leaving the plane that gave us our boarding passes and the map turned out to be perfectly clear. We got to the other terminal without any difficulty.

While we were waiting, I navigated the cafe line and managed to order a piece of quiche lorraine, quiche Provincal, two bottles of Perrier and a chocolate macaroon entirely in French. If they had any eclaires I would have ordered one -- but I was rather proud of myself for getting my in my horrible French.

We arrived in Florence around 1:30 pm local time in the middle of a downpour -- and were early at that. Gratefully, there was Anna and Nicola with a pair of drivers to pick us up. (Laura and I were much surprised that there was no 'border passport' check. No one asked for a passport when we entered Italy ... they just had us get into a line of either 'Nothing to Declare' of 'Declaration.' We walked through the line expecting to meet a wall of passport inspectors ... instead we found ourselves in the terminal.) Anna speak English very well (although sometimes I think she had a hard time with our accent) and is actually born and raised in Lucca. An hour's drive later, and we were approaching the ancient Vaughban fortress walls of that beautiful city.

We were driven through the narrow, rain-slick cobblestone streets to the Hotel Universo across the square from the Opera House. Puchini was born here and so their Opera tradition is very strong and deep. Our hotel also borders the Piazza Napolione -- which I knew from my research on Google Earth. It is a charming old hotel fitted with the most modern conveniences ... including the wireless internet that I am writing the entry on right now.

Laura always wants to get out as soon as we find ourselves in a new and exciting place, so on with the shoes and out the door ... into a deluge. The rain had become a near waterfall. Undaunted, we sallied forth to find a power adapter. With the guidance of our helpful front desk woman we were able to find a hardware shop that had exactly what we needed. I managed to complete THAT transaction in my lousy Italian ... again, much to my relief. By then the rain had nearly stopped. It was time to buy Laura a gelato and go for some serious walking. We explored a number of the streets in the town, coming to the west end and then mounting the walls and walking along them as the street lights came on. The wide walls of the ancient fortress are now a park and what a wonderful walk that was.

We came back to the hotel and are now awaiting dinner at 8:30 pm with Larry Elmore and our hosts. We are looking forward to it ... and to some serious exploration tomorrow!

Musings: How marvelous that we can come half way around the world and still be (almost) understood.