To Italy with love: My Italian Adventure Part 2

We said good-bye to Rome but not before enjoying our first breakfast.  The intimate space was filled with pastries, cheese, eggs, sliced salami and prosciutto, orange juice, jams, and fresh fruit.   I selected a sweet croissant (looks like a regular croissant but lightly glazed with sugar), eggs, and a few slices of salami. This would become my go-to breakfast treat for the rest of the trip.

After breakfast we met our tour family in the lobby of the hotel, we all looked like kids on Christmas Eve. We would be tied to the hip with these folks over the next few days. The Canadians from New Brunswick were our first buddies.  They looked to have been married for several years and clearly each others best friends. They joined Danika and I down the long red carpet leaving our hotel towards the sound of busy traffic.  In Rome you either drive a car the size of a mini Cooper or you own a scooter or bicycle. The streets are narrow so having a compact car is ideal but when traffic is at its worst having a bike to zoom in and out of traffic is a godsend.

Our tour director, Sabrina, met us just before we reached the busy traffic and led us to our tour bus. Gabriel, our driver, placed our bags underneath the bus and appeared to be oblivious to the crazy traffic that was zooming by.  Onboard the bus we were joined by a few more Canadians, a couple of New Yorkers, a pair of sisters from Colorado and Michigan, some girlfriends that reminded me of the Banger Sisters, although I failed to ask them where they were from, and a tribe of ladies from Lebanese ladies.

To work and school

As we drove through the city center of Rome, I couldn't help but notice all of the parents walking their children to school or the little girl in her kiddy chair on the back of her dad's bicycle. This was different than what I was use to. Yes, I'm sure in lots of places around the U.S. parents walk their kids to school or either paddle them there but it was something about the emotions on their faces. I saw them talking and exchanging hugs. They were strolling with rolling backpacks or popping into the corner cafe for coffee and breakfast. It was beautiful to watch. They were oblivious to the thousands of tourists and tour buses that seem to engulf their city. They were only concerned with the daily routine.

Before long we were out of the busy streets of Rome and on a highway heading towards Assisi. The landscape and buildings were beautiful in every direction.  Our first stop was at a little rest area where I bought a bag of bow tie pasta that looked like Christmas and eyeballed the wine collection.  The store had a full restaurant and a small area to have coffee or a danish.  The real reason for stopping was so that everyone could use the restroom.  In Italy you have to pay to use public restrooms... yes pay... unless you are on a highway or near a city where you pay a city tax then the restroom access was free. We were encouraged to use every free restroom that we saw as soon as we saw it to avoid having to pay to use the facilities.

Assisi - "The City of Peace" 

Saint Francis of Assisi was considered a bad boy until he went to prison, gave away all of his possessions, and saw his first vision.  His tomb is still located in Assisi to this day and we had the privilege to walk through the basilica and down into the basement area where people lit candles, knelt in prayed and touched the tomb with bowed heads. No pictures were allowed inside of the church.  Women were required to have their arms and legs covered and men could not wear hats. The church and the grounds nearby were closely guarded by armed military. They did not just carry handguns but large weapons.

The most random thing that I saw was an American Graffiti restaurant just before entering the city of Assisi. Rain began to pour just after we exited the church, but we found shelter in this cute little restaurant where we sampled wine, cheese, and had a prosciutto and cheese panini and more wine. Because of the rain more of our tour group joined us and before long we overcrowded the tiny space and I'm sure overwhelmed the staff. Before leaving the restaurant, Danika and I ordered a few bottles a wine to have shipped back home.

The rain made the cobblestone streets severely slippery so much so a few of the folks from our group took nasty falls.  Danika and I hugged the wall and watched our steps until we found our way back to the tour bus.

Lost in Siena 

Our next stop of the day was in Siena. Siena, like Assisi and Rome was beautifully landscaped with hundred year old buildings and of course a historic church.  Siena was to be a short stop for about an hour an a half. We were given strict instructions from Sabrina to begin making our way back to the meet up spot and then as a group we take the short walk back to the tour bus.

Sabrina led us to the city center of Siena where we took some nice pictures and found some public restrooms which we paid 1 euro to use the facilities.  Just as we set out to explore the city it began to rain.  Prior to coming to Italy, we were instructed to dress in layers, wear comfortable shoes, and to bring an umbrella.  We found a nice quiet restaurant where we enjoyed some girl talk over wine.

With about thirty minutes before our meet up time we set off in search of the church that held Catherine's head (I could give you more on this, but unfortunately I missed this part of the tour.) It took us about ten minutes to realize every street in Siena looked the same and we were most certainly lost.  With zero minutes to spare I popped into a shop and called Sabrina. The shop owner gave Sabrina our exact coordinates and just as the rain began to pour down again we were reunited with the group.

Back on the bus, wet, feeling defeated, but happy to be in a warm and dry place most of us drifted off to sleep while visions of our hotel rooms in Florence danced in our heads.

I don't know if it was the rain, the two glasses of wine in Siena, or not knowing exactly how far we were from our final stop but.. I had to pee. Not like a little bit but like my insides were on fire. Sabrina told us to not wait until we were in a "jam" to let her know, but I put it on everything I love it hit me so hard and quick! I tried thinking of rainbows, butterflies, love songs, or wine but my insides were like "No!" Long story short I begged Sabrina to let me use the toilette on the bus, which I believe she had to insert 50 cents for me to use, and Gabriel (our driver) had to pull over because it is against the law to use the facilities on a moving bus. I laughed at myself all while this was going on and could care less what anything thought, was unashamed because my body was back to normal and so I joined the rest of the group in peaceful slumber until we reached Florence.

The hotel room in Florence was definitely a step above our Rome hotel. The space was slightly larger and the elevator was slightly bigger.  A buffet dinner was prepared in the main restaurant in our hotel. I have to admit out of every restaurant the food at the buffet was nothing to write about.  We were in Florence, the home of Michelangelo, so I was sure that we'd run into some fantastic food before our departure.

To be continued.


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