On clear day you can see forever

I'm doing a good job of not wasting anytime while I'm here. Sunday I went for a bike ride at Lake Fimone. It was supposed to be a run, but for reasons I'd prefer not to address here, my best friend and I decided to drive to the lake and ride our bikes instead. She described Lake Fimone as one of her favorite places in Italy. I always pick Rome when I am asked to chose. Nonetheless the lake was beautiful, and the terrain rugged and muddy.

There was anti-American graffiti scrawled over the parts of the road that were paved. A minority of the Italians are still unhappy with America and consequently her citizens. We rode over their lame requests for us to go home and spent a great day on our bikes at the lake. Exhausted from our ride we had lunch at the newest McDonald's in Vicenza. I don't know what they do to the meat here, but it tastes especially delicious. We made it an early night because the bus to Slovenia was scheduled to leave at 6:45am.

The tour bus left the sleepy Army base right on schedule, and in three hours we crossed the very plain Slovenian border without passport checks or stopping. There was no difference at first, but gradually the buildings came into view. Most of them were unfinished. As we made our way up the winding road to the Santomas winery I saw more persimmon trees than I have ever seen. The trees were heavy with their fiery orange fruits. They were everywhere. The guy sitting behind me began to describe the various ways the fruit is used in China. Persimmon is a good omen in China.

After the Santomas winery we had second tasting at a wine bar on the shore of the Adriatic sea. It was a cloudy day, well equipped with dense fog, but you got the feeling that on a clear day you could see forever. My Brazilian friends are going to kill me for saying this, but it was reminiscent of Rio, in weird Eastern European way. I wish I could say the wines I tried rivaled their Italian cousins'.

When it was finally time for lunch. We ended up at a Mexican restaurant with the best Mexican food I have had since I left the States. The margaritas took forever, but they well worth the wait. Salted to perfection and smooth on the pallet. The Slovenian tequila must be the key:)