Sit Or Squat

Some of you may be walking along with us during our time in Italy. But today you can drive with us. I am tapping out this posting on my iPhone as we move. Sit, relax and ride along.

At 10am we took a taxi from our perfectly located apartment in central Florence to the airport. But not to fly. To pick up a rental car. A good sized Ford Focus wagon.

Wendi is the hot-shoe driver. Since this is a live feed, you get to hear what I hear, more less as it's said. Jack just said to his wife Wendi, "The people in the back are now gonna find out what our marriage is all about."

He said that because Jack is Wendi's navigator. But we also have a Garmin with Europe maps loaded in it. Jack keeps overruling the Garmin. We now have turned it off. He's trying to get us on the road to Cattolica without going into Florence city streets again. The idea is to take major roads to Cattolica, our destination, but not the Autostrada until later. We shall see. So far, Jack is smarter than the Garmin. He points out that this deal is reminiscent of Bobby Fisher versus the computer. But in this case, Jack is winning.

Holy crap, the Tuscan hills are stunningly beautiful. We are coming up on the town of Sieci, with the River Arno on our right. Turning towards Forli on SS 67.

As we drive towards Forli, we are climbing over the section of the Appenine Mountains (actually very big hills) going sort of northeast in the direction of the Adriatic coast. Climbing and climbing on a tight switch-back road. Loaded with motorcycles. This is stunning in its beauty.

Just now reached the top.  Headed down. Uh oh. Stopped by the carabinieri. They say it's because we don't have our lights on in the day, which is Italian law. The police now have the car rental papers and Wendi's passport and Ohio driver's license. And they've disappeared behind us. The policeman just came back to the window, handed all the papers back to Wendi and asked, "What you think of Italy?" On our way again.

An American Italian joke is that the carabinieri are just a step up from mall cops. But they cut a dashing figure in their uniforms.

1:30 now. On the road since about 11:30  We have stopped at Ristorante Pizzeria La Beconna, Di De Santis Davide ed Eleonora, 0543. We will have lunch here and use the toilets. Oh boy, the toilets are squat toilets! This is a rural area and it's an old building. Jack, who's never seen such a thing before, just went in with his camera to photograph the squatter. Later, we've already decided, it will be the photo illustrating this post.

We're about to branch off this road onto A14, the Autostrada, for Cattolica. Should be another 45 minutes. It's now 3pm. A beautiful drive so far. Through small towns and luxurious, hilly countryside.

3:30pm. We are ten minutes away from the Waldorf Palace door. The Adriatic Sea is to our left as we drive south. Haven't seen it yet.

We arrived. Very nice. Our rooms have sea views and balconies.

We've just walked the beach. There's no way to walk the entire beach, because there is sandy coastline and there are hotels for as far as the eye can see both north and south. Think of it as endless Daytona or endless Virginia Beach. This is not a glamor area. It's basically a place where Europeans come to vacation in a resort setting. Just regular folks. But way too many guys in tiny swim suits; guys way past the age for that skimpy look.

PHOTO NOTE: Notice Jack's feet in the photo. They are not where they belong. Those two sort of rectangular pads are where feet go. Men stand with their backs to the door for one piece of business. They squat facing the door for the other. Women squat facing the door.