My guess is that the "cute hill town we thought (by the signage nearby) was Foligno" was probably Trevi - well-worth a visit.

Tuck. You advance to the bonus round. I will tell you about my Trevi driving error in the next report.
((H))

Thanks,maitaitom, for brightening up this dismal, never-ending rainy day. Your report is making me laugh in spite of the weather.

That first class experience - ah, I remember it well! It's something with those reclining seats to beds and more room than you can imagine. I was delighted when they handed us a menu, complete with information about the chef, to select our meal choices. I do hope to fly to Italy like that again before I get too old to notice that I'm in first class.

Tell us more about your trip!

maitaitom, I am so loving your report....hilarious! I can't wait for the next chapter!

I had to laugh at the reversal problem, as we had the exact same problem in Germany this May. We got to Rothenburg and couldn't reverse our car. And yes, hubby and I tried the "push" technique as well...try as we might, it did not work. Oh well...nothing that an angry phone call to Avis couldn't fix. And here I thought we were the only ones!

Tracy

Ahhh....wonderful, and such fun! This is the first time all week that I am happy our computer crashed for four days because I got to read a bunch of the report without the agonizing wait the others have had to endure. :S- Of course, now I must join the masses waiting to be thrown a bone.

Thanks for the laughs and the great info.

Ahhhhhh, don't worry about the car Tom, they didn't come up with FIAT by chance "F"-ix "I"t "A"gain, "T"ony !

<2003 Montefalco Rosso Scacciadiavoloi, which took us less time to drink than to spell>
Wine is a beautiful thing, isn't it??

Still laughing more than the law allows, many thanks.
Cin, cin. ~Tiff

I'm topping b/c I'm ready for the next installment, Tom ;)

Hi Tom, keep it up, it's still raining here. i don't drive but am the map reader but what bugs me is figuring out how some radios work.

Marianna, I missed you not being at todays lunch at the Boston GTG.

Keep the great report coming.

What a super fine report! You really know how to travel in style. Where to next?

Thanks everyone! I will pump out a few more today after my Sunday breakfast of pasta and espresso (with some grappa in it). I wonder where my mind is this morning?
((H))

<b> DAY 5 - HEY, DON’T BE ASSISI, IT’S ONLY A HILL; AND THE 47-MINUTE PERUGIAN TOUR </b>

After another nice Palazzo Bocci breakfast, the four intrepid travelers got in the car for the quick 15-minute drive to Assisi. We parked in the upper lot in a covered parking area, and started walking toward the Basilica di San Francesco. We obviously took the route less traveled.

We passed residences, and I soon had us on a path that the rest of the group thought might head in the wrong direction. Stubbornly I pressed on and fortunately we were on the right path to the Basilica. However, when I turned around again, it seemed I was alone (so much for Chivalry 101).

I got to the Basilica and waited for about 20 minutes until I saw the group heading toward me. They had made a little wrong turn and wondered why I had strayed so far ahead. As usual, I had no good answer.

The four of us had been here before nearly five years earlier, but wanted to return to give Assisi more time. We toured the Lower and Upper Church and walked down to the crypt that contains the venerated stone coffin of St. Francis. The entire experience is quite remarkable, even for a pseudo-Presbyterian like me.

Afterward, we walked through the town. Amazingly, every sight we wanted to see was uphill (or so it seemed to our tired legs).

We saw the church where St. Francis was baptized, the Roman Temple of Minerva, and after a quick bite to eat, we walked into the Santa Chiara, home of the bones of St. Clare (the more famous of the two St. Clares) and the crucifix that supposedly talked to St. Francis. My favorite fact about Clare is that she is the patron saint of television, although rumor has it that she disavows any knowledge of the Fox News Channel or UPN.

We had spent about four hours meandering the streets of Assisi, and when we got to the car, I saw a picture I had brought with me of a set of steps I wanted to see in Perugia. For some bizarre reason, I wanted to go to these steps. So we set off for Perugia, and wound our way up, up, up and parked in a nice little square with a statue in the middle.

Besides the steps, Perugia was on my radar only because of its unique and rather sordid history. In the bad old days, the ancient Perugians would dress up in deer hides and beaked helmets before summarily stoning each other to death. Now, that’s entertainment! Three popes were also poisoned to death here, so I figured we should at least make a quick stop.

And a quick stop it would have to be. We only had enough change for 47 minutes of parking, so armed only with a picture of some steps and not knowing if we were anywhere near those steps, we started on our quest (well, it was actually my quest, but since I was driving it also became a group quest. I started asking completely strangers, “Dove” and pointed to the picture. My first few inquires were met with puzzlement. Time was winding down.

Finally at the Fontana Maggiore in the Piazza IV Novembre, I saw a tour group. I asked the very pretty leader about the steps, and she told me it was a five-minute walk to see them. Amazingly, we found the steps, took some pretty cool pictures, and I relaxed having completed the quest.

Tracy then said, “I guess our next quest should be to get back to the car because we don’t have much time left.” I had completely forgotten that we only had a few minutes left, and no one really remembered what time we had parked.

Sure enough, when we got back to the car, there was one minute left before we would receive a ticket, and there was a carbineri waiting very near our car to do just that.

As we drove toward Spello, we started thinking about the town we thought was Foligno the day before. We had figured out it was Trevi, so we decided just to drive and take a quick look before we got back to the Palazzo Bocci. Trevi looked like a cute town, and I thought I saw a wide-open parking lot with empty spaces galore.

As I drove into the “lot”, Tracy exclaimed, “Tom, you idiot (an endearing expression I have heard quite often during the past 15 years), you are driving on the town square.” Sure enough, a few local Trevians looked on in awe as I drove in a bizarre circuitous route on their traffic-free square, a spot only seconds before where they were spending a pleasant Monday afternoon. I immediately surmised it was time for us to head back to Spello for the requisite wine break before dinner.

We had dinner at Il Pinturicchio in Spello. It was another nice meal. We all went to bed knowing that tomorrow we would head to our new hometown, St. Quirico d’Orcia via a stop in Gubbio and a ride up the “Bucket of Bolts.” Unknown to us at the time, we would also have to bid farewell to our means of transportation for the past few days.

<b> TOMORROW: DEATH OF A RENTAL CAR </b>
((H))

Enjoying my evening trip through Italy. Can't wait for tomorrow!

Terrific, tom.

&gt;... there was a carbineri ...&lt;

Shouldn't that be &quot;carabinierO&quot;?

Was he combing his hair and checking how he looked in your car mirror?

((I))

LOL! Tom did you read about the death of our rental car last year? 2004

What great timing Tom, I just poured a glass of Shiraz :)

ttt

Hi Tom,
We almost killed ourselves and our rental car last February in Germany. Fortunately all survived in our case although I am quite sure we were thoroughly cursed by several Germans who were likely scared to death my DH's driving... ;-)
Looking forward to more!!

&gt;&gt;there was one minute left before we would receive a ticket, and there was a carbineri waiting very near our car to do just that.&lt;&lt;

We've parked our car in metered zones dozens of times and many of these times we were very tardy in our return. Having never suffered any consequences nor, for that matter, seen an agent enforcing the law, we gradually slipped into the honor system. If I happened to have some coinage I'd send it in to the meter; if not, so be it...

Thanks Tom, l'm lovin' the serialized travelogue! (You evidently learned a thing or two from Mr Charles Dickens.)

We too had that great Reverse Conundrum when renting a car in England (a Renault, I think). Pulled into a shopping area parking lot where we knew we could get out without reversing, and frantically called the rental office to find out the trick. (Why don't they put a card with the info in the glove compartment? Does anyone keep gloves in the glove compartment??) Now experience has taught us to check for reverse, gas tank locks, wipers and headlight controls before we drive merrily on our way.

A guy I know well (;-)) had enough travel savvy to remember that when he parked the car in a strange city in Italy, he should write down the street name so he could find his way back there. He carefully wrote &quot;Senso Unico&quot;... :-)
More episodes please, Tom. This is way more fun than working (must be time to plan another Italy trip).