Navigating

Oct. 12, 2003-All In A Day
(photos:Roadside lunch,
Me in Juliet window)

As our 14-month old granddaughter Talia says, “Happy, happy, happy!” We ended yesterday sitting on the roof terrace using our binoculars to gaze at the Duomo, the full moon, and Mars, while drinking liqueur. We had lovely gnocchi and pasta Bolognese at Nuti’s, a highly recommended restaurant, and rolled into bed. No noisy neighbors, no loud TVs.

They have the cutest little three-wheeled cars here. They’re really enclosed scooters. There’s no steering wheel. The interior has handlebars and a seat just like a bike. There are also Smart cars that have four wheels and little else. To make up for lack of size the interiors are upholstered in amazing hues and designs. I thought they were electric but they do run on petrol.

We bought some pottery from an artist who had his own shop. He said that his brother had been in business with him but is now a taxi driver. He earns more money that way. As our daughter Wendy’s partner would say, ”That’s so wrong “

We tried to get into the Uffizi Gallery this morning but the wait was over an hour. It is the repository of the world’s largest collection of Renaissance art. It is also the home of Botticelli’s Venus. We were somewhat disappointed but had no choice. We had to get our rental car and head south.

It was not a good sign that there was a line out the door of the car rental office. There’s a twenty-four hour train-strike now and the stranded tourists were vying for transportation. We had a paid reservation but it still took an hour to finish the process. We ended up with an upgrade to a VW Passat. It’s a roomy little wagon and perfect for the four of us. They gave us very wrong directions back to our hotel where Karen, Ron, and luggage were waiting. We were in sight of the hotel but had to go around the block so we could park in front and load the luggage. We turned down one street that was blocked at the end and had to back out. The only way back was to find the Duomo Piazza and go from there. What we did was find the piazza, drive across the piazza and around the church, and make our way to the hotel. The only complication was that there are no cars allowed on the piazza. It would be like driving a car right up to the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. We wove around hoards of tourists narrowly missing the waiting horse drawn carriages as we squeezed between vendors’ stalls, and emerged on the other side without having killed anyone or been seen by the police.

Our hotel was better at directions and we quickly found highway A-1 to Rome. We were only going to Orvieto, but it was in the same direction. We had several choices of roads to Rome. You might be moved to say that all roads lead to Rome, but that would be a cliché. Unfortunately, we all thought and said that at the same time. We’re so clever.

All Roads

We stopped at a highway service plaza to buy bread and drinks. They have lovely groceries as well as restaurants and snack bars. We picnicked at a rest area that had tables under thatched roofs. We pretended they were sukkahs for the holiday of Sukkot.

The hills of Tuscany rolled out before us. Everything I have ever read and seen was proven true. Villas dotted the countryside. Dirt roads led my eyes around groves of cypress trees to stone walled red roofed houses that had been standing sentinel for centuries. We entered the region of Umbria and the hills rose higher. Our exit appeared and we watched as the car ahead of us navigated the automated toll machine. David followed suit only to have a mechanical voice chastise him for putting the paper money in upside down, or so we thought. The voice then told him that the machine didn’t have the EU5.50 in change he was due. It returned his note and scolded him once more. You have to understand that this one-way altercation was taking place in Italian. To clarify things the machine had a screen that provided the same instructions and diatribes….in Italian. It took all four of us to figure out what was happening every step of the way. And what was happening behind us? You may have read about it in the newspaper. We caused one of the largest traffic jams this town has known. In desperation we pressed a huge red button labeled, “Assisto” which we took to mean, “For Stupid Americans.” A voice attached to a real human responded and gave additional advice to no avail. All of a sudden the gate blocking us rose and the voice basically said in loosely translated Italian to “get the hell out of here and never come back.” David, being the good citizen that he is, pulled to the side of the road, got out of the car, and tried to find the body that went with the voice in order to pay the toll. It was not to be. We’re now the proud possessors of an unpaid toll ticket for the Autostrade. We’re convinced that these kinds of incidents happen to us so I’ll have something to write home.

Orvieto

Our hotel, Albergo Corso, in the Etruscan- Gothic-Romanesque walled hilltop town of Orvieto is everything it should be. We took the recommendation of Rick Steves in his guidebook. It has eighteen rooms and we got last two. The town is mobbed. Our room overlooks the street and has long windows with shutters. David went down to the street to take a Romeo and Juliet picture of me leaning out of the window. The Ron & Karen's room has a balcony and overlooks a rose garden. We spent some time watching a 160-year old woman meticulously picking dirt off her steps. Karen was ready to offer her free therapy. For those of you who don’t know her, Karen is a psychologist. This hotel is like a college dorm. We had our doors open and met our neighbors. They live in Seattle but he went to Western Reserve Academy in Hudson, Ohio, a stone’s throw from Akron.

The rooms are the size of a large walk-in closet. The bathroom has lovely marble floors and walls and is equipped with a European standard and a favorite of mine, crepe paper toilet paper. I have to step over the bidet to get into the shower. I used the shampoo provided by the hotel. The aroma wafting from my head suggested I might have used the mouthwash by mistake. The label assured me it was shampoo. My head smells like a walking advertisement for Listerine. The European convenience of being able to wash the bathroom floor when the shower is used is included at no charge.

We walked to the Duomo before dinner. Every town has one. They’re the requisite domed cathedrals. The side walls of this one are horizontally striped in gray and white marble. Ron said it reminded him of mattress ticking. Karen thought it looked like a prison uniform. We will explore the inside tomorrow. David and I went in search of sunset and failed to find a good place to watch while Karen bought a nice wine. We finished the bottle and staggered off to dinner.

The pasta was homemade but our server was sullen. I think she was turned off when we asked if she spoke English. English tourists aren’t that common here but other natives have been friendly and have made an effort to help. We even had to use French to negotiate a wine tasting. I don’t know if it was because we needed translations or we didn’t order wine, but she studiously ignored us and brought our food only after reminding and prompting from us. We let her know we noticed her rudeness and wondered if we’d done anything to cause it. She denied any problem. Service was not included on the bill and, uncharacteristically, we left no tip. Tired, tired, tired. We made it to bed early at last.

Toby