We got up at 09:00, went down to breakfast. My parents and a few other wedding guests were already there. We didn’t delay, ate fast, and went upstairs to finished that last of the packing. We went do a floor and said goodbye to my parents. It was a strange feeling. I hadn’t seen my dad in a year and a half. How long would it be this time?
One we hit the road this time, we tried to go as long as we could. We wanted to see some of Florence, even if just for an hour, but it didn’t work out. We couldn’t figure out the parking system, and really didn’t want our car towed. We ended up getting back in the car and having lunch at the next rest-stop. Oh well. These things happen. We did see a cool gate thingy. That was the totality of our Firenze experience.
When we made it to our hotel at around 19:00, the kids were underwhelmed. It a weird hotel, but fit our purposes exactly. Safe, clean, near the airport. It’s not going to win any awards, but it was perfectly fine. I drove to the airport to get rid of the rental car. What a palaver that was. I put Hertz in Google Maps. It said it was in Terminal 1. So that’s where I went. It looked like you could park there for free for 15 minutes. My Italian is shite though, so I was a bit worried, plus who on Earth thinks 15 minutes is enough to deal with Hertz. I finally figured out I could pay at a machine. You can’t pay unless you pay a minimum though. I didn’t have enough coins. Then the first credit card I used was declined, but I know it is not maxed out. After a comedy of errors I got 45 minutes parking. I walked into T1. No sign or Hertz. I asked a man in pigeon Italian (add ‘ale’ to everything) and got T3. Got to T3 – no Hertz. Saw signs for car rentals. Walked for fuppin’ ages. Rome is muggy at this time of year. And hot. I was gross. Finally figured out giving back the car. Then asked where to give it back. Okay. Parking lot A, First floor. Leggit back to car because 45 minutes is nearly up. Text from husband. You ok? What’s going on? Get back to car. Even more disgusting. Get car back to place. All good. Ask lady where I can get cab. What’s a cab? Taxi? Mad directions all over the shop. Walk out of parking lot. Wander through traffic in the arse hole of nowhere Roma airport. Finally find a cab that wants €20 for a few km. Don’t have a choice. Running very low on Euro.
I got back to the hotel around 21:00. The kids and the husband were sitting down to dinner. I joined them and we ate enough. Afterwards we went upstairs. We all took showers. Laid out our clean clothes for tomorrow. And charged everything we could: iPads; iPod; iPhones; iPeople. We packed everything else. We didn’t want to have to do anything in the morning except dress and walk out the door. I went down to reception and asked for a wake up call for 06:00, and a taxi for 06:30.
Running Half Empty 