I’ve escaped Austin for an extended vacation in Europe, begun in Rome – don’t cry for me. After about a month here, I’ll work my way east towards Istanbul (I may try to capture the leader of ISIS while I’m in the area), then into central Europe. Apologies for the lapse in posting but I’ll try to pick it up, both with my best pics from Europe and from a stockpile of Austin area pics as usual. Here, the Polizia are using a silent BMW I3 to slide back and forth in front of St. Peters. (There are military guards in some many places, looking very alert and always with a finger to the trigger of their assault weapon.) I’ve been here about two weeks and cannot find many interesting cars in Rome – a few exotics (I see more of those in Austin, frankly), but the most interesting are the very small cars, mostly electric, appropriate for these ridiculously narrow, winding roads in the historic center of Rome. Also, there are old Fiat 500s, but not sure if hot rodding or customs are much of a thing here.