Travel Days!

Hello, friends! I'm sorry it's been so long since I've last posted. Michelle and I have been traveling around Italy after a week in Greece. We visited our friend Martin in Rome, took a bus to the airport and rented a car, a little black Centrion C1. The man who rented it to us said things like, "God forbid you break down, but here's the number to call if you do." "I'm holding 400 euro on your card, but if you bring the car to Palermo on time with no damage, my colleague will only charge you 171 euro." And when I said that I wasn't 25 yet and asked if there would be a surcharge for renting because of it, "That doesn't matter."

 Then we hit the road. And man oh man, what a road! We were planning on driving up Mt. Vesuvius and at least seeing Pompeii, but alas, we didn't get the car until about 4pm on Sunday, and it was almost dark by the time we were passing. The highway we were on turned into a cobblestone street through a winding town at one point, and we found that to be normal for Italy, unless of course you're on the autostrada (FANTASTIC ROAD! and worth every penny of the toll).

a ceramic map of Conca

The Amalfi Coast was, as everyone who has been there will tell you, gorgeous. The small, winding, two-way roads made for the most exciting drive of my life, hands down. Around 11:30pm, while we were still searching for our bed and breakfast in Conca del Marini, I definitely stalled out on a cobblestone hill and gently hit a parked car behind me. (Believe me, you couldn't see any of my damage, considering the duct tape and other scratches all over the side of this car.) Thankfully, in the midst of my frustration, our host was standing beside the car telling us about her garage for parking.

Amalfi

Positano

The next day, a passing car and I had a run in, but save for my side mirror being slapped shut, all was well.  Michelle was thoughtful enough to video some of our fun drive for your viewing pleasure:

We had some of the best hosts! Our first hostess, the one who met us at 11:30pm, was Alaina. She gave us vino, beer, and water in the fridge, along with maps and recommendations on what to do on the Coast. We had a large breakfast overlooking the Mediterranean. It was lovely!

Getting gas was sort of a fun experience. The gas stations are never self-pump, but Michelle discovered that you can wash your own windows because no one stopped her when she washed ours. One memorable gas station pit stop was actually a police check point. Their uniforms were legit, complete with knee-high boots. Thankfully, a brief glance at my drivers license and passport let us off the hook because we were obviously not the droids he was looking for.

On our drive down to Palermo, we stopped to spend the night in Acconia with an adorable couple. Teresa only spoke a little English, and her husband Paolo spoke even less, but they were the most hospitable people! Teresa wanted to know from which state we came, since she heard that Ebola was discovered in Texas. Paolo told me I spoke great Italian, which is fallacious but sweet all the same. At breakfast, they wanted to give us tangerines for the journey, so Michelle took a couple. Paolo motioned for her to take more, handed her a grocery bag full of them, and then grabbed her face in both hands, and covered her cheek with a big kiss, saying "multo bella!" They even took a photo of us before we left.

On the ferry to Messina, Sicily

Then we headed toward my homeland, and it was a relatively easy drive. We stopped to ask how to get our car on the ferry, and a couple who only spoke Dutch and Italian were able to communicate it to us quite well. They even stood on the curb waving after we came back around the corner with the car. I had never driven a car onto a boat before, but I think that in the US, someone somewhere would have inspected the car. But this is Italy, and that didn't happen.



By the time we made it to the airport in Palermo, the rental car people seemed surprised that we had taken the car from Rome and not damaged the car at all. Michelle and I prayed a lot in the car.

I just like this shot of Positano.