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falls.  The men had a little brush of what looked like horse hair stuck in he back of their hats.  This style was common about  Attersee and frequent in Vienna.  The little brush is set in a little silver holder (like a thimble with the bottom out) and a pin on the inside fastens it to the hat.  The effect is very jaunty.  Most of the men wear short trousers.-----At Brenner custom house I got back my suitcase with the linen.  When I said I was going to take it to America the Italians passed it without any fuss.  I had not seen a soldier since I left France.  There were Italian soldiers at the border and a street full of them as I came here in the bus this morning.  It was near sunset when we got into Italy so I did not see much of this country.  They did not call all off for Florence (or Fierenze) and I couldn't see the name of the city but I got off on a chance and happened to be right.--------Later:The world doesn't seem quite so cold after coffee and bread.  It is the first good coffee I have tasted since I left the ship Do you remember Mark Twain's recipe for German coffee?  I think they used it in Munich. Frau Schneider's was good but very week and never hot.  With one gas burner to cook by I understand the reason and never mentioned it.  The Sumatra coffee at the Hackel's has a foreign flavor.-----The lire is 17 to $1.  I have to do a head-racking amount of arithmetic these days.  I hope the German mark does not drop too far before I get back to Deutschland.-- - The art galleries are open here from 10 till 2 on Sunday, so I am going there.  I shall have a chance to walk around a little before 10.  This hotel faces the Arno river.-----Later: I have looked upon the "old Masters" and live--they are enough to kill most anybody.  I can understand that very devout people might reverence these pictures, if they has little taste and no sense of humor, but why artists prize them is a mystery.  The copies we are all familiar with looked punk, but I thought the originals had life or something to be admired as they are.  The [[underlined]] general [[/underlined]] impression left on my mind is