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Wow, Italy has been a different world compared to the other countries we have visited. Verona was my least favorite city, and I was happy to leave it this morning. We made our way to the train station to the local Hertz to pick up our car only to find out, from some kind officers, that the Hertz office had moved. One pointed off in the distance and told us to go to the tall building; so we walked to the tall building, with our packs, and still did not find it. We split up in a small area to try to find it, and a nice gentleman stopped Ben and I to ask if he could help. He pointed us in the right direction; however, his directions were a bit confusing. Eventually we found it. Since it was on a little side street, the driver parked it on the sidewalk for us...merging into traffic is another story for another day.
Getting to the highway was not too difficult. Once we got on, we had to get a ticket for the toll road -apparently all highways are toll roads, and you pay your toll when you exit. So what did we learn about Italian driving and highways? There are few rules. First, there is a bicycle toll booth! There are speed limits, which like the US are ignored. There are traffic cameras that can ticket you for speeding and a variety of other things unknown. So far, we have no tickets. The highway was mostly under construction from Verona to Florence. There were more tunnels on it than there were on the trains. Semi-trucks, or whatever they are called here, have different speed limits, which are posted on the back of the trucks. For all who know how I feel about riding in a car in the US, you now realize Jesus and I are tight.
Driving through Florence was another experience I hope to never have again. There were narrow streets, and, like in Verona, every other person has a scooter. Scooter drivers have no rules. They can ride beside you on a one lane road, they can cut you off, or they can nearly crash into you. If you google Florence, you will see the tiny streets we drove through. We had to show our hotel reservation to an officer to be able to drive through the pedestrian area to get to the hotel! Yes, a pedestrian area. Rebecca and I just stared at each other in disbelief. Eventually we made it, and the hotel gave us a sign to put in the car so it would not be towed until they could park it. Driving here = madness.
We found a nice place for lunch and had some local fare. It was amazing. So far I have only been sick one night. (I count that a blessing.) While eating, a lady approached us after hearing us talk and invited us to a concert tonight. She was from Pittsburg, and the Pittsburg Youth Orchestra was playing in the plaza down the street from us. We thanked her and made plans to go. After a nice nap, we headed out. The picture for this post is part of the plaza where the concert was held. It was really nice and relaxing. We ordered a pizza and bought a bottle of wine and relaxed with other tourists and locals. One of the songs played was an American folk song Hoe Down Rodeo -pronounced the same in Italian excpet Rodeo was Ro Day O. There was a nice round of laughter from the Americans in the crowd.
Hope this catches everyone up on our adventure. Verona was not a friendly city, so there is not much to say about it. Feel free to post to us; we have enjoyed everyone's comments and look forward to sharing stories.
- comments
Martha Angela, I am so thankful that God has blessed you with a strong stomach to be able to eat the strange foods. So sorry that the traffic is worse than Chapman Hwy! May God continue to give you safe travels.