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corridors and altogether it was rather a night-mare
journey. We were thankful to reach Florence about
5.0 in the morning. How impressive was this
first sight of an old Italian, city arriving in
an antiquated cab past Santa Maria Novella
& under the massive walls of the Strozzi Palace,
as we made our way in the breaking dawn to
our quarters across the Arno in Via Romana.
We had taken rooms in a pension on the first
floor of a palazzo, and there we remained
for ten days, very happy, and working hard
every day in gorgeous weather seeing sights,
and such sights - Pictures, statues, palaces,
intensely thrilling. I have never since my youth
enjoyed anything so much. Our rooms at the
pension, "Analena" by name, opened on to a broad
balcony overlooking a garden, and there
we had our breakfast every morning, &
there also we sat & talked in the evenings after
dinner till it was time to crawl off to bed.
During our stay we paid a brief visit to
Siena. The motor bus by which we elected to
travel left at 6.30 & as we had to be at the starting
place by 6.0 we were up early, & made our way
through the dimly lighted streets before the dawn.
It was an eventful journey. We had

gone some 12-15 miles when the motor broke down
& we all had to dismount. On one side of the
road was a vineyard, & on the other a derelict
piece of land, on which a few prickly
bushes & some sparse grass & weeds managed
to exist. On this we settled ourselves scattered
about in groups while the chauffeur tinkered
at his motor. The case was, however, a serious
one & a fresh car had to be sent for from
Florence. Hours sped on and at last the fresh
car arrived, but instead of taking the hapless
passengers aboard, & conveying them to Siena,
its chauffeur joined his fellow in repairing
our old bus, and it was 11.o'clock before
we again took the road,

16 Oct 1939.
Dear me! How many years have sped past
since I last wrote in my journal, years of
ill fortune and years of good, but through all
the good has predominated, and my life has
been long and happy. From So. [South] Learmonth
Gardens we moved to a house in Barnton
Avenue then called 'Elmlie Lovat,' a nice
little grey harled house, placed as near a
position in the north east angle of a rectangular
acre, or almost that Measurement, of grounds
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