Bus Trip

I discovered that the nearest town with a grocery store was about 10-12 kilometers away so today I got instructions from one of the women at Reception and headed out to catch the bus. If you stand on the road in one direction you will go to Florence. If you stand on the opposite side of the road you will go to any number of places including where I wanted to go to La Gaccioni (I think that was the name). I was told to find the Centro Commerciale whatever…to find a grocery store. I told the bus driver where I needed to get off and he sold me a ticket for €3, all the time talking on his cell phone. Well, he continued to talk on his cell phone using one hand to drive this massive bus around hairpin turns on tiny roads, using the left hand lane as much as the right! No moving out of the way for people on the side of the road, either. I saw one old man turn sideways so as not to get hit! It was absolutely terrifying (I was sitting in the front row seat, btw). When we arrived at my place to get off he said to stand exactly on the other side of the road for the bus back to the campsite when it was time. Long story short, I found the Centro Commerciale, no grocery store. My Wi-Fi wasn’t working so no Translator. I did my best to ask around for where I could find one and finally a couple of younger women pointed me in the right direction. By this time I had 45 minutes to find the store, shop and get back to wait for the bus. After walking over a mile – no grocery store, I headed back to the bus stop from a different direction. Now I have 20 minutes to catch the bus. Guess what? There’s the grocery store!! I ran in, tried to grab a few things quickly and rushed to the checkout where an older man had an entire cart full of food to check out. Now I’m sweating for real, checking my watch and trying to stay calm. 12 minutes, ten minutes and I’m nowhere near the bus stop. Finally, I get through the checkout and high tail it further up the street to where I’d been told to wait by the other bus driver. I arrived there with maybe 2 minutes to spare. The bus, however, didn’t come for another 10 minutes and when it did the driver blew right by me and stopped about a hundred yards away so that I had to run to catch the damn thing carrying whatever I had purchased. The driver then berated me in Italian about not standing in the right place!!! All I could do was say “si, si” and sit down. This ends the story of my first Italian bus trip.

We’ve had tons of rain for the past 2 days. So much rain that my awning filled and ripped a corner from the weight. I had to empty it a couple of times before bed and again this morning. It has gotten chilly. Only 64 degrees F (17 C for you Brits). Had to wear long pants and a sweater over my tee shirt today, although it did warm up to about 70 F (21 C) this afternoon. It’s getting quite chilly again now that the sun has gone down. I discovered a leak in the storage cabinet where I keep my shorts and some tee shirts. Everything was soaking wet and had to be hung out to dry. Hopefully, that’s it for the rain for now.

The area where I have usually been walking the dogs is at the top of the hill with a little valley below. There’s fencing so no one can go down there but one house fairly close to the hill has chickens. I’ve counted as many as 11 out at one time and I know there’s a rooster because I’ve hear him crowing. They’re beautiful birds – some white, a couple of black ones, a couple of red ones, etc. Henry and Polly (in particular) are fascinated by them. She stretches as far as she can to watch them. It’s pretty hilarious.

Tomorrow is our last day at Camping Village Il Poggetto. Monday we’re moving farther south to Bucine, which is just outside Arezzo and the area I’m hoping to find a place to rent. I’ll probably have to rent a car for a week or so to be able to view properties. Fingers crossed everyone that I find a place quickly!! 🤞