Day 5

Day 5...at dinner Guy and I were trying to find just a single word to describe our day. Frustrating, exasperating, and a few other words were mentioned, but as I type at 9pm, it ended on a fabulous note. So here goes...

We woke up enjoying the final hour at our palace in the Westin. We packed up and said goodbye to all the beautiful square footage we were lucky enough to have been given. We left the hotel and caught a cab to the train station where we were to get our car. The cabbie said there was a strike today, no trains or buses, so we were lucky to be renting a car. As we got to the train station the cabbie overcharged us for the ride, but when questioned he said there was an extra charge for the bags. So be it. We went inside and stood in the lengthy line at the car rental. As I stood in line, I realized the cabbie had not just overcharged us, but he had stolen my leather jacket out of my bag. I had two shopping bags and since it was warm I had just put my coat on the top. Replaying the situation over as we stood in the car line, it was obvious what he did. I tried to help him unload, but he said no for us to stand to the side and he'd get them for us. I didn't even think to look in the shopping bag and his trunk was empty when he picked us up. So no doubt it was not an oversight. *sigh* So as we stand in the FOREVER car line I thought I'd find a restroom, but I walked by the escalators and only saw an elevator, so deciding to wait, I went back to the line. Finally after almost an hour, we were next. As we gave the nice man our paperwork, he pointed out we were at the wrong window and had been standing in vain. We went down to the correct window and no one was waiting, nor had been. So goodbye jacket and goodbye 1 hour of my life I'll never get back. So after we finished up, we asked for a map and directions on how to get out of the city. He said he didn't have a map. Really? You are a CAR RENTAL! They ALWAYS give you a MAP! So I told Guy I needed to go to the bathroom, so I went down the escalator and he stayed with the stuff. So when I found it, I needed a coin to get in, which I didn't have. So I went back up and got turned around, so when I found Guy again I made him go down with me. If you know Guy, he is very quite at this point so he does not explode. After the potty break, we went back up and asked the info center for a map. They said we'd have to find a tobacco shop. So I stayed with the bags and Guy went on the search for a map. Success. So we go to the car and we find that we are totally blocked in on three sides. So Guy went back inside to get the Eurocar dude and he came out. About that time a lady (in Italian) asked us if we were ready to leave as she had us blocked in. Um, yeah, we are ready. So after I figured out how to turn the car on, Guy plugged in the Garmin and off we went. Imagine the most insane drivers on packed, crazy tiny streets and that is downtown Rome today - because of the strike. This, and the fact that I haven't driven a stick shift in almost 2 years, and we just had a REALLY bad start to the day - I was ready for anything. I just said to myself... "we have insurance" and I pressed my foot on the gas.

Just as we made our way through the city to the Autostrada, Ms. Garmin beeps us that the charge is low. We look down and the light on the charger is not on. So we think our car's lighter isn't working as we had used the Garmin several times before the trip. Thank you God for getting us out of the city before this happened. We would not have made it out any other way. So we get on the toll Autostrada and head for our lunch destination. We turned the Garmin off to save power as we had at least 100 kilometers to go. After going for quite some time and seeing no turn off for the lake or Cortona, we realize we had gone about 25 miles too far. So we took the next exit and turned the Garmin back on, hoping we could drain the life out of it - we needed some help at this point. The Garmin was obviously telling us wrong, because we saw a sign for Cortona and she was telling us a different direction. Trusting the road signs, we headed for Cortona on some back roads. It said we were only 20 kilometers away, so we knew we'd find out soon enough if we were heading in the wrong direction. We went ahead and followed the signs and went all the way up to Cortona. It is a fantastic hilltop town but it was raining and I was driving up switchbacks on the hill going up. So needless to say, I was riding on my only remaining good nerve and it was a little one. So we get to the top and have no idea where the heck the hotel is, so we decide to pull over and call. I whip out the iphone and dial. Nothing. I tried again. Nothing. So we are lost, with a Garmin that isn't giving us any help and a phone that doesn't work. *sigh*

So we know the hotel looked as if it were in the country, so we head back down the mountain (a small one, but still..this is my blog and I'll call it what I want). We caught an advertisement for the hotel and catch the name of the road SR171. Low and behold, that was the road we were on, so we just kept going. We stopped at a hotel for directions earlier but the doors were locked *of course they were* so we pulled over at a gas station and the man told Guy it was 3 kilometers on the right. So about 3 kilometers later the heavens opened up and there was our hotel. We check in and take a few deep breaths. The guy at the front desk said he'd try to find a way to charge our Garmin AND the reason the phone didn't work just a few minutes earlier was because they had just had a thunderstorm and the phones were out. Then when we get to the room we see the address on the confirmation was not right. The zip code (or what ever they call it here) was wrong. So needless to say the Garmin wasn't going to work. So as we re-cap our day, we thought we'd just relax at the hotel and recover and have dinner here as the restaurant is supposed to be really super. Well, the restaurant is booked tonight with a private party. You could have probably guessed that one, right? So we decided that since we missed lunch and had just eaten snacks from our backpack, we'd head back up the mountain to Cortona again and sightsee and find a place for dinner. We took an umbrella because the sky was dark and found our way back quite easily. We parked and walked around for a while. The town is charming and there were several shops. I bought a few goodies, but it looked like the restaurants wouldn't open until about 7pm. It was only about 5:30. So we went back to the car and drove around a bit because when we were up there earlier we thought we saw another entrance and we were told to look for an escalator up the side of the mountain (no joke). But when we saw it, it was broken down and was blocked off. Yep. No joke. So we kept driving until we got to the other side. We figured the town was so large we couldn't have possibly seen it all and there were 2 piazzas (squares). So we parked again and went in from the other side of the town. As soon as we walked in we saw this dog...the same dog we had just seen about 15 minutes ago. Yep, we had seen the length of the town. So we walked in and looked at a restaurant. It wasn't going to open for another hour so back in the car to the other side.

Are you exhausted yet? Yeah...so I found this crazy cute chocolate shop and was looking at everything. I bought some chocolate pasta and a few other goodies. The lady there spoke perfect english, so I asked her where we should have dinner. She said I'll show you (she was on Facebook when I was checking out) so she pointed to the restaurant above her shop. We walked around and read the menu. Famished, a dried up piece of bread would have worked. So we went in. They didn't open for another 15 minutes so we waited patiently outside. They closed the door behind us - lol. Promptly at 7 the waiter opened the door and waived for us to come on. Dragging, we sat at this great table in the most beautiful little restaurant. We ordered some Cokes and food. It was truly delicious. (I took some pictures of the town and the food, so I'll spare you the details). After dinner we walked quickly because we were chilled (and I have no coat). The ride back was easy and we now have the path from the hotel to downtown Cortona down pat. I left the room to come down to the lobby area because the internet is better and our room is a bit tight (compared to the Westin where we needed walkie talkies to find each other). *sigh*

So goodnight...I'm sure I'll sleep good tonight. We are both pretty much physically and mentally drained. AND BONUS!!! the guy at the hotel found a plug that charged the Garmin! Woot Woot! We don't know where we are going tomorrow, but I'm sure we'll find it. ;)