Thursday April 26, 2007 5:30 p.m.
The Race is on! Today was the day that we left Florence to pick up a car at the Florence Airport and drive to Parma. This morning we cleaned again after breakfast, rechecked everything to make sure we didn’t leave anything, looked everything over again, and then left. Rodger, Beth, Lisa and Luke departed the apartment and navigated to the closest “A” bus to get to the train station. Rodger and Beth decided to leave for Siena for the day, and Luke and Lisa had to get to the airport (using the shuttle from the train station). The bus trip was long since we caught it on the first quarter loop, and we had to go the final three quarters to get to the train station. But it was nice, because we got on when nobody else was on, so we had our choice of seats. I was worried that they wouldn’t allow on our baggage, because in four languages it says in the bus that we can’t have any baggage over 10 kg, and certain dimensions. Well, none of the baggage that we had past their requirements, but the guy didn’t care. So we rode all the way to the train station. Rodger and Beth proceeded to show us where to get the connecting shuttle to the airport. Rodger showed me where to get tickets, and when I came out of the office, the bus arrived. It is like a big tour bus, where you put your luggage underneath and the chairs are on top of the luggage. We left Rodger and Beth to fend for themselves in Sienna and Lisa and I went to the airport. When the bus left the depot, I got to see a good look at how traffic systems in Florence were handled. Everybody is on their own. As long as you are on the right side of the road, nobody cares where they are. The traffic in downtown Florence was horrible. Of course, I am looking forward to the upcoming Doom of driving in Italy. I am comfortable driving in the states in high traffic, but this European traffic is different. Well, the half an hour trip was over, and we arrived at the airport. I would assume that the arrivals would have the car rental agencies. So we went into the terminal and walked back and forth looking for the car rentals. Well, we left the building and there was a building off the side of the arrivals/departure gates, so we went over there, and voila, there were the car agencies. Lisa and I made our way over there, and there were a couple of older people trying to get a car in the lane that I needed to be in. When I booked the car online, I basically went through a company that finds the best price, you pay that company, and then they get the car through Hertz or someone like that. Kind of like priceline. So the car that we were getting was from hertz. And that line also had somebody in it. So Lisa and I sat there for literally 20 minutes before the hertz line opened up. Thankfully I could go to that line and get my car. Plus the lady spoke very good English. After I signed my life away (through insurance and gas, etc) we got our keys and the location to the car. I must say when we went to the lot and saw the car, I was impressed.
The Race is on! Today was the day that we left Florence to pick up a car at the Florence Airport and drive to Parma. This morning we cleaned again after breakfast, rechecked everything to make sure we didn’t leave anything, looked everything over again, and then left. Rodger, Beth, Lisa and Luke departed the apartment and navigated to the closest “A” bus to get to the train station. Rodger and Beth decided to leave for Siena for the day, and Luke and Lisa had to get to the airport (using the shuttle from the train station). The bus trip was long since we caught it on the first quarter loop, and we had to go the final three quarters to get to the train station. But it was nice, because we got on when nobody else was on, so we had our choice of seats. I was worried that they wouldn’t allow on our baggage, because in four languages it says in the bus that we can’t have any baggage over 10 kg, and certain dimensions. Well, none of the baggage that we had past their requirements, but the guy didn’t care. So we rode all the way to the train station. Rodger and Beth proceeded to show us where to get the connecting shuttle to the airport. Rodger showed me where to get tickets, and when I came out of the office, the bus arrived. It is like a big tour bus, where you put your luggage underneath and the chairs are on top of the luggage. We left Rodger and Beth to fend for themselves in Sienna and Lisa and I went to the airport. When the bus left the depot, I got to see a good look at how traffic systems in Florence were handled. Everybody is on their own. As long as you are on the right side of the road, nobody cares where they are. The traffic in downtown Florence was horrible. Of course, I am looking forward to the upcoming Doom of driving in Italy. I am comfortable driving in the states in high traffic, but this European traffic is different. Well, the half an hour trip was over, and we arrived at the airport. I would assume that the arrivals would have the car rental agencies. So we went into the terminal and walked back and forth looking for the car rentals. Well, we left the building and there was a building off the side of the arrivals/departure gates, so we went over there, and voila, there were the car agencies. Lisa and I made our way over there, and there were a couple of older people trying to get a car in the lane that I needed to be in. When I booked the car online, I basically went through a company that finds the best price, you pay that company, and then they get the car through Hertz or someone like that. Kind of like priceline. So the car that we were getting was from hertz. And that line also had somebody in it. So Lisa and I sat there for literally 20 minutes before the hertz line opened up. Thankfully I could go to that line and get my car. Plus the lady spoke very good English. After I signed my life away (through insurance and gas, etc) we got our keys and the location to the car. I must say when we went to the lot and saw the car, I was impressed.
It is a Fiat Panda. It is a cute little car, with four doors and a tailgate that opens up for some luggage. Lisa and I had to push the seat down to get ours to fit, but there was no problems after that. We got in the car, set up the TomTom, looked at all the damage, to make sure there wasn’t anymore, and started the car. Well, I decided to get a stick shift because it was about 250 dollars cheaper than an automatic. It has been a while though since I drove a stick though, so I had to get my bearings with the shifter (which is kind of situated near the CD player. Once I figured out how to get into reverse, I backed up and got ready to drive. Well, I was going the wrong way. Thankfully car rentals aren’t a big deal in Florence, because we were the only ones in the lot besides the people that look over the cars when you bring them back. So I turned around and went to look for the exit. I drove around the lot for a while and couldn’t find the exit. For crying out loud how do I get out? Well, Lisa looked around and she saw a small road (barely the width of our car) for the exit. Thank god. Well right when we exited, the TomTom fired up the voice directions for our exit to parma. So it was a little hairy getting out of the airport (probably like all airports) but we got on the A1 (not the steak sauce) and got going. I didn’t really know how fast to go, so I went as fast as most around me. I was cruising around 100 km/h which was fine by me. Florence is situated around some low level mountains, but it is still hilly and there are tunnels cut out of the rock to allow roads through them. So after about 15 minutes driving, I realize that Italians are horrible drivers. Some people are going 100 km/h, others are going 160 km/h. There was more than one time that I thought I could pass somebody and while passing, there was somebody riding my ass because they were going super fast. I can’t figure out when gas is $5 a gallon, that people would actually drive slower. I know I did. I can’t afford to fill up this little car a hundred times, because I am sure it will cost me about 75 bucks to fill the gas tank. So after we got out of hilly country it got a little better. There was one scare when I was looking into my side mirror to see if any crazies were coming up around me, and Lisa yelled “brakes, brakes” because this doofus trucker was coming into my lane with me in the way. Oh, I didn’t mention that the A1 is a toll road. I will tell prices soon. The drive took about an hour and half, which half was white knuckling driving. Sometimes I wonder how much tourism actually happens when Italians, French, or Brits come over to the states to look at stuff. I can’t believe that they do, because I never see them. I would love to see how they drive on our roads. It is probably a luxury. The roads are also pretty cramped. Just all around crazy. I hope the back roads are a little slower and easier to navigate. Well, when we finally made it to Parma, we got off the interstate, and had to cough up 10€. Just to drive on the road, not including all the fees included in getting the car on the road. How people afford things is beyond me. They also have cameras on the road that take peoples picture if they are speeding. I knew they were there because the TomTom told me. And then I wondered, if people are speeding, and you have a toll road, why not use a computer to input the time they left the toll, to the time they got off the road and paid. If they drove the speed limit, then the computer could compute how fast they were going and say okay, no speeding. And if the computer realized that if a car leaving point A toll booth arrived before the allotted time at B toll booth, then they get a ticket. How dumb is that. Especially if you have tolls. What an easy way to catch speeders. Alright, enough about driving for now. We coughed up the money and made it to our hotel, which the TomTom navigated us to. We got all our bags out and wheeled into the place. We stayed at the HolidayInn Express. Like those commercials where the people act like they know more than they should, like the guy that describes how to run away from a bear. “How do you know so much?” “I stayed at a HolidayInn Express.” So we get continental breakfast and free ice. The guy that checked us in told us that we had a single big bed. No problem. First (floor 0) floor room. We got over to the room, and the keycard is not like in the United States. I put it in and slid it out three or four different times and the door wouldn’t open, well, then I left it in the slot, and the door unlocked. Jeez. When we walked in there were two beds, so we went back and asked for a big bed. The guy (his name was Elvis!) gave us the room that we wanted. Our rooms are super nice. Nice and comfy with a big bed and a TV.
I don’t think there is BBC World on it either. That is good, because I was sick or hearing about cricket and Football (soccer) and Boris Yeltsin, and the French elections, and whatever else the brits wanted to cover. Elvis gave us a map and told us how to get downtown and where to park, etc. I knew Parma had a TI, so I decided that we should stop there first. After looking at the map, I started to get scared about what we were going to do for three days. Oops. Pasta Barilla, and that’s it. But fret not, because we can always shop and dink around. So Lisa and I jumped into the car and took off for downtown. I programmed the parking ramp into the TomTom, and headed off. Lisa noticed a grocery store, so we were going to hit it later. Well, the last turn that I had to take was a roundabout, but there was construction, so they destroyed the roundabout, and you couldn’t turn across traffic to get to your destination. So I had to drive half a mile the opposite way to get turned around (the TomTom didn’t help me with turning around either, it just said “turn around when possible” thanks ya shit). So we made it to the car park and parked. The payment method is like the one in Scotland. You get your ticket, bring it with you, and when you come back, you pay, get in your car, and exit. It is kind of a nice system, and I wish the states would start that. It is easier, plus you can use your card if you want. Well, we took off from the parking lot and navigated towards the TI. We walked through a city center type park which housed the local museum and theatre. Lisa and I were also on the lookout for a place to eat because I only had an egg, and half a hot dog bun filled with custard (I bought some “little debbies” that looked exactly like hotdog buns and they have sweet, thickened milk in the middle). 
So we made it to the TI, and I asked about cheap places to eat (the lady was very very very helpful, and spoke wonderful English). The guide coughed up about 4 maps of Parma. On one she showed us where to eat, then I asked about optional tours. She informed us about a cheese tour (which I jumped on) but it might not be happening because they may not have English tours, and they were actually closed (for like a siesta type thing) and she said we can call later. Lisa said that we can call, and just got the number. We also asked about Prosciutto/parma ham tours, and we found a poster showing a Ham Museum, which is about 15 miles away (the TomTom says 15 miles, but 40 minutes). Well, we left the TI and headed towards the place where cheap places to eat are. Parma is about 50 times less touristy than Florence and Venice. Thank God for that. We were able to walk without having to bump into people, and we could walk side by side and not have to worry. It was pretty nice. We stopped at a local bookstore and Lisa wowed me with her know-how of the Italian language. She read a children’s book! So we found this nice little place and walked in. Nobody in the place spoke English (except for one person who spoke about as much English as I do Italian) but we were able to get a menu, order from it, and get water and coffee. Lisa got Gnocchi with gorgonzola cream sauce, and I got lasagna (I wanted to see how it differed from ours). Lisa’s gnocchi were awesomely done, and my lasagna had spinach noodles! I sure was happy. Plus it was hot as Hades, which is a good thing, because I like hot food. I had a piece of lasagna (four noodles high) that was about 4x6 and Lisa had a small plate of gnocchi. We got some bottle water and then devoured our food. I was curious about this place we were eating at because I kept seeing them usher out these small sandwiches (like tea sandwiches) and put them in the window. Lisa and I thought they might be closing, but I think they just have some “down” time where you can’t get everything from the menu, and everybody is just sitting around. Our food was good, and then we ordered coffee, and when it came, it came with a little biscuit/digestive, which was an added surprise. I was happy with that. So after eating and paying (15€) we took off. I decided to stop back at the TI and ask the nice lady to call the cheese place and see if we could at least show up (the first time we stopped, I didn’t know about the English tour, but was told that there might not be a tour at all, hit or miss stuff). She called and talked to somebody, but she had to call back in five minutes. Then she told me that we might be able to piggyback onto this English tour (like when Beth, Katie, Luke and Lisa went to a Schnapps tour with a bunch of Australians). So she called back in five minutes and set us up for this cheese tour. We go there tomorrow at 8:15, and Lisa hasn’t said it yet, but I know she will be excited when we do all these tours tomorrow. I am getting excited also. So we got back to our car, and took off towards the hotel. Of course the TomTom told us exactly where to go. We made a sidetrack trip to the grocery store and picked up some items that we could maybe make lunch/supper with. We ended up getting: shelf stable cream cheeses, 2 different types of chips, 3 diet Fantas (1 being pompelmo, grapefruit), some Buenos (for 55 cents) about a kilo of bread, half a pizza, some little debbies, rose/blush wine in a box (€0.90! beat that Rodger!) apples and Tuna fish (we couldn’t find it in water, just olive oil!). I still have my senape (mustard) so maybe I can make some tuna and mustard sandwiches! Laugh if you want, my tastes range from trash to epicurean delights, and a tuna fish and mustard sandwich sounds awesome! So we survived the trip home (I had to cut across traffic pretty fast) and unpacked all of our stuff. We found out that the AC does work, when the city allows it. And right now it doesn’t allow it. So we have both windows cranked open (the windows are huge also) and the door is propped open with a towel. The weather in Parma is about five degrees cooler than Florence, and it doesn’t stink like the city dump. At least not yet though. We have also seen some Africans selling sunglasses, but only about 4 dudes. And they didn’t accost us when we walked by them. But that’s about it for now. Lisa and I both enjoyed our Buenos, are drinking the fanta, and wondering about supper now. So I will sign off. I am enjoying this relaxing part of our tour of Italy. Barilla tomorrow. I hope they WOW me. I will see if I can take pictures. Okay, Lisa and I will go eat now, and I will ask about wireless internet (it is 3€ for one hour, 1 shot, or 7€ for 3 hours, and you can use the minutes/hours at your leisure). Ljf
7:33 p.m
Lisa and I just got back from our delicious dinner. Of course, we had the food from the shopping experience from earlier today. Lisa mixed some pepper and mustard in the can of tuna, I used two wedges of cream cheese spread on the bread, and we had open face tuna sandwiches. Boy were they good. Lisa mentioned that the tuna was kind of fishy, and when it was plain, I agreed. But they were good. So we had those half sandwiches, half an apple each, and half of the pizza. We are now full. The rose/blush wine in a box is good. And it has a screw top lid, so we may not need to drink it all. The bidet is now filled with ice and cold stuff. Thanks for the tip Beth! I just bought a wireless card for three hours, so we can now post. And that is what I will do. Early day tomorrow with FREE breakfast, I can’t wait. Plus all the coffee we can drink! Yippee. I hope it is espresso coffee. The hotel we are at must cater to business types, because I am seen a few “meetings” in the lobby and bar. That’s about it. Thanks for reading! ljf
I don’t think there is BBC World on it either. That is good, because I was sick or hearing about cricket and Football (soccer) and Boris Yeltsin, and the French elections, and whatever else the brits wanted to cover. Elvis gave us a map and told us how to get downtown and where to park, etc. I knew Parma had a TI, so I decided that we should stop there first. After looking at the map, I started to get scared about what we were going to do for three days. Oops. Pasta Barilla, and that’s it. But fret not, because we can always shop and dink around. So Lisa and I jumped into the car and took off for downtown. I programmed the parking ramp into the TomTom, and headed off. Lisa noticed a grocery store, so we were going to hit it later. Well, the last turn that I had to take was a roundabout, but there was construction, so they destroyed the roundabout, and you couldn’t turn across traffic to get to your destination. So I had to drive half a mile the opposite way to get turned around (the TomTom didn’t help me with turning around either, it just said “turn around when possible” thanks ya shit). So we made it to the car park and parked. The payment method is like the one in Scotland. You get your ticket, bring it with you, and when you come back, you pay, get in your car, and exit. It is kind of a nice system, and I wish the states would start that. It is easier, plus you can use your card if you want. Well, we took off from the parking lot and navigated towards the TI. We walked through a city center type park which housed the local museum and theatre. Lisa and I were also on the lookout for a place to eat because I only had an egg, and half a hot dog bun filled with custard (I bought some “little debbies” that looked exactly like hotdog buns and they have sweet, thickened milk in the middle). 
So we made it to the TI, and I asked about cheap places to eat (the lady was very very very helpful, and spoke wonderful English). The guide coughed up about 4 maps of Parma. On one she showed us where to eat, then I asked about optional tours. She informed us about a cheese tour (which I jumped on) but it might not be happening because they may not have English tours, and they were actually closed (for like a siesta type thing) and she said we can call later. Lisa said that we can call, and just got the number. We also asked about Prosciutto/parma ham tours, and we found a poster showing a Ham Museum, which is about 15 miles away (the TomTom says 15 miles, but 40 minutes). Well, we left the TI and headed towards the place where cheap places to eat are. Parma is about 50 times less touristy than Florence and Venice. Thank God for that. We were able to walk without having to bump into people, and we could walk side by side and not have to worry. It was pretty nice. We stopped at a local bookstore and Lisa wowed me with her know-how of the Italian language. She read a children’s book! So we found this nice little place and walked in. Nobody in the place spoke English (except for one person who spoke about as much English as I do Italian) but we were able to get a menu, order from it, and get water and coffee. Lisa got Gnocchi with gorgonzola cream sauce, and I got lasagna (I wanted to see how it differed from ours). Lisa’s gnocchi were awesomely done, and my lasagna had spinach noodles! I sure was happy. Plus it was hot as Hades, which is a good thing, because I like hot food. I had a piece of lasagna (four noodles high) that was about 4x6 and Lisa had a small plate of gnocchi. We got some bottle water and then devoured our food. I was curious about this place we were eating at because I kept seeing them usher out these small sandwiches (like tea sandwiches) and put them in the window. Lisa and I thought they might be closing, but I think they just have some “down” time where you can’t get everything from the menu, and everybody is just sitting around. Our food was good, and then we ordered coffee, and when it came, it came with a little biscuit/digestive, which was an added surprise. I was happy with that. So after eating and paying (15€) we took off. I decided to stop back at the TI and ask the nice lady to call the cheese place and see if we could at least show up (the first time we stopped, I didn’t know about the English tour, but was told that there might not be a tour at all, hit or miss stuff). She called and talked to somebody, but she had to call back in five minutes. Then she told me that we might be able to piggyback onto this English tour (like when Beth, Katie, Luke and Lisa went to a Schnapps tour with a bunch of Australians). So she called back in five minutes and set us up for this cheese tour. We go there tomorrow at 8:15, and Lisa hasn’t said it yet, but I know she will be excited when we do all these tours tomorrow. I am getting excited also. So we got back to our car, and took off towards the hotel. Of course the TomTom told us exactly where to go. We made a sidetrack trip to the grocery store and picked up some items that we could maybe make lunch/supper with. We ended up getting: shelf stable cream cheeses, 2 different types of chips, 3 diet Fantas (1 being pompelmo, grapefruit), some Buenos (for 55 cents) about a kilo of bread, half a pizza, some little debbies, rose/blush wine in a box (€0.90! beat that Rodger!) apples and Tuna fish (we couldn’t find it in water, just olive oil!). I still have my senape (mustard) so maybe I can make some tuna and mustard sandwiches! Laugh if you want, my tastes range from trash to epicurean delights, and a tuna fish and mustard sandwich sounds awesome! So we survived the trip home (I had to cut across traffic pretty fast) and unpacked all of our stuff. We found out that the AC does work, when the city allows it. And right now it doesn’t allow it. So we have both windows cranked open (the windows are huge also) and the door is propped open with a towel. The weather in Parma is about five degrees cooler than Florence, and it doesn’t stink like the city dump. At least not yet though. We have also seen some Africans selling sunglasses, but only about 4 dudes. And they didn’t accost us when we walked by them. But that’s about it for now. Lisa and I both enjoyed our Buenos, are drinking the fanta, and wondering about supper now. So I will sign off. I am enjoying this relaxing part of our tour of Italy. Barilla tomorrow. I hope they WOW me. I will see if I can take pictures. Okay, Lisa and I will go eat now, and I will ask about wireless internet (it is 3€ for one hour, 1 shot, or 7€ for 3 hours, and you can use the minutes/hours at your leisure). Ljf7:33 p.m
Lisa and I just got back from our delicious dinner. Of course, we had the food from the shopping experience from earlier today. Lisa mixed some pepper and mustard in the can of tuna, I used two wedges of cream cheese spread on the bread, and we had open face tuna sandwiches. Boy were they good. Lisa mentioned that the tuna was kind of fishy, and when it was plain, I agreed. But they were good. So we had those half sandwiches, half an apple each, and half of the pizza. We are now full. The rose/blush wine in a box is good. And it has a screw top lid, so we may not need to drink it all. The bidet is now filled with ice and cold stuff. Thanks for the tip Beth! I just bought a wireless card for three hours, so we can now post. And that is what I will do. Early day tomorrow with FREE breakfast, I can’t wait. Plus all the coffee we can drink! Yippee. I hope it is espresso coffee. The hotel we are at must cater to business types, because I am seen a few “meetings” in the lobby and bar. That’s about it. Thanks for reading! ljf
4 comments:
Your car ride sounds too hair raising for me. When do you fly out? Mary Jo
You are the great driver Herm!!! I can just see it now,,,,goggles and all!~!!! This town sounds more my style..food and more food!! and a lot less traffic and people- and a holiday inn express- Yeah!!! Just like home... The cheese tour and Barilla tour both sound like fun.. I will catch back up with you tomorrow to see how it went!! Have a good day!! Love, Mom
Mary, we fly out on May 14 in Rome. I don't want to think about, so don't mention it again :(
Italy is very fun. Gotta run thanks for the comments ljf
Awwww! JUST too late! I see on Sr. Izzard's website that you can get TomTom in his voice! Wouldn't THAT have been a treat to hear Eddie tell you where to go?! I'm back at work myself, so my little mini vacation has ended and I'm back at it for a while. Drive safely! At least you're on the right side of the road this time!
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