Thursday, August 12:
Early in the night R. was much disturbed by his rash, but washing himself down helps considerably, and he sleeps well. Decision to go on to Perugia. He feels he has got thinner. We spend the day quietly in Pistoia; around 6 o’clock we drive through the town, which gives us great delight in spite of R.’s fatigue. He, too, finds pleasure in the reliefs of Luca della Robbia, and the cathedral, the Prefettura, the Baptisterio, individual elegant houses, leave behind an indelible impression.
In Florence put up at the Hotel de Rome, where friend Buonamici visits us and where very strange telegrams cause confusion and laughter; in one of them R. had put down “wäre dieses schön” [“this would be nice”], the official forgot wäre and wrote “dieses Sohau,” which then becomes a motto for everything causing embarrassment, all the more so since at first R. could not remember what he had originally written. He is very run down and early in the night is tormented by his rash, but at last he goes to sleep, and sleeps well.