Pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/debstah1/sets/72157622604928635/
8:10am: sitting on Eurostar City from La Spezia to Pisa. Slept horribly again last night, wish I knew why - maybe the not-too-comfy bed in our room. Anyway, took the 7:16am train from Vernazza and then had no problem booking this Eurostar with my credit card, go figure.
9:30pm: Holy shit what a day. Got to Pisa with no problems, checked our bag, got bus tickets to go to the tower, and set on our way. Finally found the right bus and made it out to the tower, which was teeming with a bazillion and one obnoxious Japanese tourists. They rival Germans in their obnoxiousness.
Anyway, we tried to go to the Baptistery and the guy said it was closed, so we got a ticket to the cemetery instead. It was... Interesting…and creepy. Lots of skulls and crossbones. So the tower is, well, the tower. Not sure quite what the mass hysteria is around but I figure, now I've seen it and I can move on with my life. We reversed Rick Steves's walking tour back to the station and got a tasty gelato on the way. Got our bags from the left luggage desk and got a taxi from the station to the airport car rental desk.
A bit before noon, got the car with no problems. I laughed because it took me going to Italy to drive an American car. It's a Ford Fiesta. Thank goodness, the GPS worked and after trying for a few minutes to, well, start the car, I figured it out, and we were on our way to Lucca. A bit less than a half hour later and a leisurely drive on a 4-lane highway, we arrived. The GPS led us to a street I had seen was potentially good for parking. Well, I misunderstood my own notes and thought we were to go into a garage. Well, we pulled down the ramp and the garage door was closed and since we had gone downhill, putting the car in reverse was pointless and it was way too narrow to attempt to turn around. Needless to say, I started completely freaking out. So we called Hertz around 1:15 and they said they'd send a tow truck. I asked a few people around town and they spoke no English and couldn't really help. The funny thing is that this "ramp" was literally steps away from a Hertz office, which of course closed at 1pm. Anyway, then I saw a sign that said this was the parking for a hotel in town. So after running around and begging people for help I found out where the hotel was and asked if there was any way we could purchase a parking pass so that we could open the door and drive through and out. He was very friendly and helpful but said that the garage was actually closed for repairs. OY VEY. So needless to say I'm freaking out and finally about an hour later (so around 2:15), the guy shows up and backs the car out for us. I could've given him a hug and kiss right there. So, finally able to calm down at my own stupidity, we drove around and saw some parking spots around 2:30. Parked and got a slip for all of 20 cents for 2 hours and went in to see the town a little bit.
A medieval town surrounded totally by walls/ramparts, it's a pretty cool place and tents were set up all over town for some reason. So we just wandered around a bit, went into a few of the churches, got a quick sandwich and Lemon Soda, and set off for the farmhouse around 4:15. All was well with this lovely drive at a stunning time of day under a beautiful blue sky, mostly through country roads of vineyards and olive groves, until we were getting near the farmhouse. The GPS said we were there, but we were at a farmhouse of another name. Renee's phone wouldn't let her make outgoing calls at all so, in the fading daylight, we booted my computer up in the car and I called his cell phone and he said it was near there but not the right place. Then we got disconnected but I had gotten enough info to attempt it again. So we started heading in another direction - ignoring the GPS - and finally stumbled upon the place.
It's up a high and winding road that's really no fun at all to drive around, especially not at night, but the place itself is truly adorable and just like pictures. We called him to let us know we were here and he asked if we'd found the keys he left. We said no but that we would and he said he'd be here in 5 minutes. So we found them, with a nice note, and we let ourselves in to our wonderful little apartment. He came and showed us a few things, took our passport information and was on his way. He told us about a restaurant down the road only a couple miles that was thankfully open. We brought our luggage up and set off for dinner at Antico Desco.
It was a tad further than we thought it'd be, but at least we ultimately got there. Right after us, a family showed up and otherwise, it was just our two parties the whole time. It was a nice (not so little) place, the server was lovely, and the food was delicious. I had spaghetti. I definitely think we'll go back at least once, if only because it's so convenient, and also reasonably priced. Driving around up here is not fun, the roads are narrow and the locals get mad for going slow, but I don't care. :)
So, day one of driving in Tuscany is over and I must say it wasn't a great one. But we learned some lessons. I am still a bit nervous driving this car because even though it's automatic it still works a bit differently. I'm not used to always having to use the emergency break and I'm not used to having to turn the lights on and off manually. Going down hills it kind of "grabs" the road and makes a weird sound without me even stepping on the brake, but we're assuming (hoping?) it's supposed to do that.
Tomorrow will be interesting as we're going to Siena and it's Sunday. Supermarkets (even the super big ones) are closed, so we'll probably have to eat granola bars I brought from home for breakfast. Ah well, better than nothing! :)
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