Day 8,

Our first toll station - Oh boy! Did we screw up!.... It asked for a bancamat card so I gave Andree my banking card then this voice came out of nowhere: no, no, no in Italian, all upset with us. We had put the card in the wrong slot and put the money in a steel box. The very upset attendant had to come out and tried to retrieve my card but could not find it.... I had to call home to cancel it. To make this more embarrassing, we were going in the wrong direction. He was nice enough to tell how to use the tolls and told us to turn around and go back to A-12. He probably alerted all the toll gates attendants about us. Oh well!.... This day had started with a bang.

By the 3rd toll station, the same one twice, we had it figured and yippee, going in the right direction. What was supposed to be an hour and 20 min. drive turned out to be 3 hrs and 5 min. drive. The Hotel was right on the ocean; we took a walk to the center of town, got a few supplies. As we thought there was no restaurant in the hotel, we went out for supper. And we took a taxi and went to the old part of Piombiono to a restaurant that served seafood, fish, pasta and dessert. Molto buono!.... Back at the hotel and tucked in for the night.

The Tuscany Ladies.

PS: After all my screw-ups today, I can tell you that driving in Italy is not easy. Directions are not clear and pop out at the last minute but I do enjoy driving the Volvo.