On Monday we set out for a driving tour of the Tuscan countryside. Our escort on our trip was going to be "Giacomo", a 64' Fiat 500. A vintage Italian car. We found Giacomo in a garage a 10 minute walk from our B&;B in Florence. These cars have to be double clutched, so I had take an operators lesson in a Fiat simulator. Turns out my farm upbringing benefited me once again, the proprietor said I was a natural and turned us loose with a google map showing us the way out of town, well the first 5 turns anyway and how to get the car back into the garage
Monday is a national holiday here in Italy, Easter Monday. Therefore nothing was open, no stores, no gas stattions. So we were unable to buy a map. We pulled out our trusty Rick Steves book and with his rough sketched maps we were on our way. Sometimes the wrong way, sometimes on the autostrada all in a car with at top end of 80 kph. Oh yeah, picture us smoking up the freeway in our rodeo clown car going 50 MPH!!!
But the good news is we we lucked into all the right places, happened onto some others and returned the car safely to it's owners.It is still early spring here in Italy, the trees and flowers are not quite out yet. So although the countryside was beautiful, with hills that rolled to the snow capped mountains, you could see that late summer or fall would be exquisite. Another trip I guess.
It looks like the weather is holding for you all. Here we are expecting 1-2' of new snow in the passes and snow levels down to 500'. Winter has finally come!
ReplyDeleteRoger
Loved it again! James you are a true blue Scotsman with that hat. Grandpa John wore a hat like that and his Dad also. And I can see that car in Scotland touring! We're glad to hear your farm training has paid off again...not many kids start driving at 3! The countryside does look beautiful.
ReplyDeleteSherry
Love the car!! What beautiful countryside. If you turned that photo of the two of you in the vineyard into black and white it would look like it was from the 1800's...except for the telephone pole in the background...it's very cute and you look like locals.
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