Friday, November 7, 2014

The Fruits of our Labor

Friday;
Today we are scheduled to return the Hertz car in Perugia.  So this morning we went back to Francesco's Nissan repair shop and rented a car.  This will be our car for the next 3 months.  We are turning in an Audi Quatro SUV.  It had 900 miles on it.  Navigation, Bluetooth, you name it, it had it.  We rented a Fiat Punto.  Manual transmission,  passenger rear side door opens with a bit of magic and finesse and a diesel that smells just a bit, BUT, goes zero to 90 kilometers/hour in about 4 1/2 minutes.

I mentioned yesterday we were expecting rain.  It came, in buckets.  Chris was to follow me in the Fiat.  That lasted about one mile.  Traffic, rain, foggy windows just about did her in.  So we switched.  I sympathized with her plight.  She wasn't suppose to drive the Audi.  It's not in the HERTZ contract.  But one thing I have found in Italy, rules don't mean squat as long as you don't get caught.  So off we went, in the pouring rain, me following her to Hertz.  I swear we got within 50 yards of Hertz, and we got separated.  So I pulled over and stood on an island, in the rain, praying she would somehow find me.  Five minutes seemed like an eternity, but I heard the horn and there she was.  I got in, got fuel and returned the car.  Then off to Euronics, Italy's Best Buy, to purchase a TomTom.  I am not driving in Italy without navigation.  Columbus be damned!  He didn't have to navigate round-a-bouts and scooters zig-zagging all around.

Got home and this was the best part of the day.  A Todi Sangiovese.  Blessed be the fruit of the vine.


1 comment:

Ginger said...

Glad you're both safe. Driving in traffic in the rain is interesting enough here, though not something we experience very often, as you well know. Can't imagine the challenge in a foreign country. Yet another adventure!