bfrac

The players: bfrac, P and B. Friends, business partners in various ventures, all married, love travel, art, food, wine, and fun.

The beginning: It is July and P starts talking about wanting to go to Italy to paint and I encourage her to do it. She has many air miles accumulated and I check flights for her in October and they are available. She finds this website www.artistinitaly.com and falls in love with the idea of staying here for a painting holiday. I look at the website and get so excited for her, it is just lovely, in a great location (well, of course, it’s in Italy), a nice place for a woman traveling alone, reasonably priced; everything she could possibly want. They have space available for her in October and she signs up. Cool. I’ll help with the airline ticket, rental car, etc.

I look at the website again. WOW, they offer a stay for non-painters too. Hmmm, could I possibly go to Italy without Giacomo? Can I live with the guilt of taking a vacation and leaving him behind? Would he mind very much?

Meanwhile P tells B she is going on this trip and B looks at the website. B is an artist as well. B jumps in immediately (they often travel together). There is space available for B in the program and she signs up.

I spend my nights tossing and turning and dreaming of the possibility. P emails Amanda again and asks if there is space for me, too. OMG there is space for me! Can’t wait for Giacomo to come home and discuss it with him. I start giving him P and B’s updates and he says “I can tell you really want to go too, so go.” Yippee. I’m so happy I should be twins.

Two days later we get together to book our tickets through our various airline miles accounts and with confirmation emails in hand we are set for October 15-25. The 17-24th with Artist in Italy in Umbria near Chiusi and a day early in Orvieto and a day after in Roma. I have several day trips planned for during the week since I’m free and not involved in the lessons, although I am welcome to go on any field trips they take.

My dear friend from Sardegna, Professoressa, agrees to tutor us for the next couple of months. P and B are starting new and I can use the practice.

I have so much Fodor’s research to share with P and B and we have a pretty good plan of what we would like to do while in Orvieto and Roma. Arrive Orvieto, see the Duomo, do the underground tour, see the rest of the town and then the next day go to Civita di Bagnoregio and take our time getting to Chuisi to check in at Artist in Italy.

Finally departure day arrives and the fun begins...

YvonneT

We're all waiting for the next installment, please!

KN2011

Cant wait to hear about Orvieto, one place i cant wait to see.

bfrac

Thanks Yvonne and KN,

Finally departure day arrives and the fun begins…

Departure day October 15: I’m packed and ready with one bag to check and a carry on. Checked luggage has plenty of room to bring stuff home. I’m trying to hold it together about leaving Giacomo and the cats; out the door with a little bit of nervousness and holding back tears. Get to PHL early but P and I have vouchers for the US Airways lounge and we get to hang out there in comfy chairs and relative peace and calm. The voucher entitles you to bring a guest so B can hang out with us. We wouldn’t have abandoned her to waiting at the gate.

The flight is uncomfortable and uneventful. We all have aisle seats a little spread out so we aren’t really close enough to converse. Watch movies, nap a little and at 8:20am we land in Roma! The sun is shining and it is a gorgeous day.

Thanks to a printout from www.slowtrav.com we have concise directions through the airport to the car rental office; the only glitch was the elevator wasn’t working so we had to go up the escalator with the luggage. We have rented an Alfa Romeo 159 wagon. It is a super cool looking car. We rented through www.kemwell.com and they included a free Garmin Nuvi which they shipped to P before we left home.

Load the car, P is programming the Garmin for our destination in Orvieto and I pull out my directions and maps. I navigate and B drives. All is well until we get to the exit for the A1 and the Alfa’s engine starts to hesitate a bit. Uh oh, B and I look at each other and say nothing. It continues and then the engine light comes on. Messages start flashing in Italian. We had not thought about needing to study auto mechanics in Italian language until this moment. The fuel gauge starts spinning back and forth from full to empty like Linda Blair’s head in the exorcist.

We pull over at the first service area. The gas attendant shakes his head no, he can’t help but if we go to the first exit which is Settibagni, there is a dealership there that can help us. Ok, off we go; B coaxes it along. No Alfa dealer, everything but Alfa. No help, so we go back to another service station we see. They can’t help either. The car is possessed and that fuel gauge is starting to scare me.

Now the fun really begins. P and I armed with separate cell phones start calling Europcar to try to get some help. Obviously we can’t drive the car without risking blowing the engine and we don’t want our first purchase in Italy to be an Alfa Romeo 159. I can’t tell you how many times we each told our story to a Europcar representative, only to have our calls disconnected when they transferred us to whoever is supposed to help us. By now it is noon. Finally, I am put through to someone in Milan who says he will send a tow truck for us in 40 minutes. We are to go with the driver to the garage and then I am to call him back and he will have located another car for us, then we will have to call a taxi to go get the new car, wherever that may be. 1) I am not happy about the calling him back scenario. 2) The number he gives me appears to be missing a numeral. When I repeat it back to him he assures me it is the correct number. Not to worry. Yeah right.

Forty minutes later to our surprise the rollback truck arrives. The driver is such a gentleman and we are relieved that at least we will be on the move again.

Next B and P are on a parade float…

Dayle

bfrac,

Gages spinning like Linda Blair's head are NOT a good thing. I'm so sorry you had trouble, but at least you had friends along to hlep.

I can't wait to hear the rest. My neighbors went on an artists tour to Italy last year. I wonder if it was the same company?

annhig

The number he gives me appears to be missing a numeral. When I repeat it back to him he assures me it is the correct number. Not to worry. Yeah right.>>

this happens to you as well? I'll have to tell DH - he always says it's me.

looking forward to the happy ending!

bfrac

Dayle, I don't know what would have happened if we weren't together working it out. I kept thinking to myself, thank God I'm not alone.

ann, It did happen to me and it was not a correct number even though the agent assured me it was valid.

bfrac

<b>B and P are on a parade float…</b>

While we wait, we endlessly discuss our possibilities of how to get another car, how to get someone on the phone again to help us, which office we might go to, etc. I really want to avoid driving in Rome on a Friday afternoon during rush hour. Giacomo and I returned a rental car in Rome in 2006 and it wasn’t as easy as we thought it would be. We thought we had clear directions to the rental office on Via Cipro but we took one exit too soon off the A90 (toward stadio, this comes back to haunt to me 3 years later). Anyway, I digress.

The truck arrives and we all jump out because we’re so excited something is at least happening now. The driver is looking at the three of us and P and B elect me as spokesperson. He hops in the Alfa and moves it behind his truck and starts doing chain stuff. I say, “We are going with you, yes?” “Si, signora.” Then he looks at P and B, and asks me if they will please get in the car so he can load it onto the rollback. This is my first laugh of the day, I just can’t help it. They are going to ride in the car, on the rollback! I see the trip report starting to take shape.

P and B have by now figured out what is going to happen and start laughing. “Yaay, it will be just like riding on a parade float!” and out comes the camera. We’re punchy at this point. P photos them ascending onto the truck and the ride down the highway, all the while they are perfecting their queenly waves at the folks staring at them.

Meanwhile in the front of the truck I ask the driver where we are going – you guessed it, into Rome. Funny thing, we take the exit for stadio and I see the exact place with the porchetta wagon where Giacomo and I had stopped to reassess our position three years earlier. But the biggest difference is that this driver knew where he was going and I actually saw the stadio this time.

We arrive at the garage, which is closed for siesta, so the driver hangs with us since he can’t leave the car until someone shows up. He is so sweet, he even offers to take us for coffee at the bar on the corner. P and I start the phone calling again to find out where to go for our next car. No luck. That number the agent gave me did <b>not</b> work and we were back to square one, having to explain what was going on and getting disconnected time after time. We are debating going back to the airport or to a local office to try and get a car when a nice man starts talking to the tow truck driver and offers to talk to the Europcar people for us. One more time P makes the call and hands the phone to him. Lots of loud, rapid fire Italian of which the best we can make out is that we are three women, left on the street with our bags and no car and someone must get us a car now. Success! He hands the phone back to P and she is told by a nice lady that she will call a local office and arrange a car for us. She will call right back. Oh no, not again, but she does and has a car for us not too far away. Hugs to the tow truck driver and our telephone liaison. A taxi is called and we are off. Hmmm, we’re on Via Cipro, I’ve been here before. BTW, the taxi driver is absolutely gorgeous.

Europcar agents pay for the taxi and once again we are standing in the street with our bags. The first guy comes out with keys to a Fiat Punto and sees all the bags and goes back to find another car. It appears and all we can do is laugh. It is a Fiat Qubo in the ugliest shade of green you have ever seen. I mean you can see this green from space.
And we’re off, with B at the wheel, in the midst of Friday afternoon rush hour traffic in Rome.

<b>Next, our angel in Orvieto and, yes, it is still the first day…</b>

YvonneT

Oh, gosh, what fantastic memories you have made, already!!

Samsaf

I'm loving your trip report so far! I would have been absolutely exhausted on your first day.

Dayle

bfrac,
This is priceless!! It is always a GOOD thing to have a gorgeous taxi driver. I had a gorgeous and helpful taxi driver in Naples... Does make the day a bit better, si?

Unfortunate about the shade of green! Look at this this way - easier to find in the parking lot!

bfrac

Oh it was very easy to find in a parking lot! If you Google Fiat Qubo, it comes up with the green ones. People were actually looking at the car and laughing.

We were so tired and hungry, it was beyond imagining. We were just fueled by adrenaline at this point in the day. Luckily I had packed a baggy of almonds in my carry on and this is what we ate that day.

That taxi driver... when we arrived at the Europcar office I handled unloading the luggage with him and asked him how much for the fare and he answered dodici and he must have thought I was illiterate because I couldn't help but stare. Luckily one of the agents appeared and paid him.

YvonneT

I quite like that jaunty green!!

bfrac

It was a very reliable car and it worked out well for us since Artist in Italy was on an estate with hilly white roads. It certainly gave us something to talk about and remember.

ellenem

Enjoying your report . . . and waiting to hear if you actually ever arrive at your destination!

LowCountryIslander

bfrac...just found your report...bookmarking to read and follow!

TDudette

"I’m so happy I should be twins. "

A wonderful thought! The site for the art week looks very inviting. Great prices also. So sorry about your car probs but color being the theme, perhaps the green one was meant to be...

grucci

I'm lovin' the trip details...blow by blow and I'm enjoying the way you write.
Will continue to read as you continue to write.

LowCountryIslander

bfrac...

What a first day! But at least you had a handsome taxi driver!

Love your writing style...looking forward to more of your adventure!

bfrac

Thanks everyone, I appreciate the comments. I will write some more this afternoon after I get some work done.