Friday, 1 July
OK ... I think I've got the hang of this driving on the opposite side of the road thing ... just not sure I've got the whole Italian mentality of how aggressive to drive. No wonder there are so many accidents with foreigners in Australia - they drive like absolute lunatics over here!!
Bobbie figured it was her turn to drive Nello today so off we went heading for Pistoia and Lucca (which I thought was pretty ambitious trying to squeeze two places into one day). Anyway, besides the constant drifting to the right ... and she mocked me *ha!* ... we found our way to Pistoia with a little help from our lovely electronic buddy, Guiseppe! LOVING GUISEPPE SICK! Came across the round/squareabout from hell and Bobbie took it wide (we were going for the 4th exit) ... cars were zooming in, cars were basically everywhere. I have both feet pressing a relief impression into the floor and Bobbie is ... well, I'd like to say muttering - but it wasn't muttering, more like terrified screeching (with some expletives added for expression). I've raised my voice and saying "this way Bob, this way ..". Can I just say, that was ..... S.C.A.R.Y. Followed the first signs to a parking bay where we both had to deep breath to prevent passing out from hyperventilation!! phew ... what an adrenalin rush.
Walked into the centre of town, got a little help from a passerby. The place was almost deserted! Felt like we were the only tourists in town. There were a couple more but seriously no more than a dozen. Wandered into the main piazza and went into the museum (as directed by the Lonely Planet guide). Now here, we really were the ONLY people, besides the cashiers, in the museum. We had the whole museum to ourself. Wandered around looking at art work that dated from the 14th & 15th century. I could not believe we were inches from this priceless works and there was NO security... nothing! We couldn't help but laugh at some of it ... Bobbie thought the Baby Jesus getting breastfed was a giggle ... but I think the best one was when Baby Jesus had the body of a chubby little baby but with the head of a man .... creepy!
While we were in the museum, it had started to rain ... WHAT? Rain in Italy - it does that? Neither of us had bought any of the 4 umbrellas we bought in London so had to sit out the worst of it. When it lessened up, we ran for it across the square. I'm calling out 'Run Forrest Run' ... then all of a sudden Forrest stopped ... she lost her shoe. Cinderella as I will now dub her was wearing thongs and as she ran across the cobbled ground, one had suctioned on and she went about 6 steps before realising. Very funny. Cinderella and I made it back to the car from memory and I was now the designated driver again!
Drove into Lucca and tried finding a parking space .. was having no real luck with the big parking areas so quickly swung Nello into a diagonal park along with everyone else on the street. A man was standing there and indicated we could park further in. As we got out I asked where the parking area was and he indicated we could park exactly where we were. When I asked how much, we stumbled through the translation minefield and figured out what it would cost. He asked if we were American so I corrected him and introduced ourselves. His name was Franko. Franko led us to the ticket dispenser and even contributed some change. He made sure we were aware of what time we needed to be back and then farewelled us with the double-cheek kiss ... Italian kiss count up to 3 (ok 4 ... a thank you kiss and then a Ciao kiss - I think he was cashing in!)
Wandered around the streets of Lucca, visited a couple of churches one of which had a wooden representation of Christ (Volto Santo) that legend said was carved by Nicodemus but has since been identified as a 13th century fake. Still old tho ... and they still parade it around town on 13th September every year apparently. Stumbled across another where the facade was a mosiac - amazing. Lucca was just lovely, very picturesque place to visit. We hired a couple of bikes and cycled a good proportion of the city walls ... without the risk of being hit by a car/motorbike because the walls were 10 metres above the city level.
It was late in the day so we decided to stay in Lucca and have dinner as it was such a lovely place. Found a little restaurant and promptly sat down. There was a grumpy dude sitting by the doorway and he let the boss know we were there. Papa came along and took our order and scuttled away. Pretty soon tho, we met Mama. Oh dear, Mama was the generalisation of a grumpy old Italian woman! Whoa! She plonked our paper placemats in front of us and practically threw the knife and fork on top. Mama's service was a little terse to say the least. Bobbie was concerned that she was going to spit on our food, she was so happy. The meal came, Papa forgot my dinner (but not my salad) and I couldn't be bothered asking for more. At least the food was good, Bob said it was probably the best lasagne she'd every had, and we found no extra uncalled for spittle on it. People watching was fun too ... especially watching the pizza delivery guy balancing 6 or so pizzas on his arm while riding his bike.
The journey home was interesting ... it was an hour to our villa and Bobbie had consumed almost a litre of wine. No, no, I'll be right. Three quarters the way into the journey and she stopped talking to me ... apparently needing every ounce of mental will power to control her bladder. There were moments when she asked if it was ok to use my $20 Myer handbag ... and that was met with a flat no. It started to worry me when her eyes starting glassing over and then squeezing shut tight. As we pulled into the driveway, shrieks of "let me out, stop here" could be heard. She bolted up to our Villa, past the Finns staying across from us with a quick "Hi" and disappeared into the privy! I came in to gasps of enormous relief.
No comments:
Post a Comment