Travel.

Whilst we are in Italy we have decided not to rent a car. This is quite unusual for us. We have, for this week at least, hired some bicycles as there are quite a few bike paths around here. Bike rides here at least have been more to get to an actual destination or to actually get to a shop and being some food home. Whilst motorbike and scooter drivers do have to wear helmets here, bike helmets seem few and far between. There is a whole array of where to put your baby or toddler on your bike. Quite frankly I have seen some people take more care of carrying their vegetables home in their baskets than where others have plonked their offspring on the bike!
I had a bit of a hairy moment myself at a roundabout with a lorry coming a bit too close and my not knowing where to turn off. But all in all I have really enjoyed biking in these parts.
We have also been taking the bus. Buying the tickets from the newsagents or bars and being vaguely aware of where we were going. But the other day we concentrated so hard at getting to a bus stop on time, that we forgot to remember said name of bus stop or the number of the route we were taking. Caused much confusion on the return journey when we turned up at the bus station and I ended up asking the town drunk (who I thought was just an older bus driver out of uniform), and couldn't really tell him where I wanted to get to. He kept insisting I was heading for a town I knew I was not wanting. I just Kept saying 'no BEFORE the beach ' and he just kept insisting there was no such place. We got a bus going in the right direction eventually. Once the bus driver had finished his espresso in a bar. But the bus turned off the main road before our stop. Not sure why, probably just because.
Yesterday, in the pouring rain a bus we were waiting for just didn't show at all. No one else looked at all bothered.
Similarly the other day it took a little bit of oweking our that the initials on the digital display that didn't mean anything to me actually meant our train had been cancelled. Another Italian language learning experience.
Tomorrow we are off to Florence by bus and train. Maybe. Hopefully. If we get the directions right and if the drivers feel like turning up.

Watch this space....