3/16/17- On the road to Florence

How's that for ornate?  Don't overlook Orvieto.

Spent a somewhat sleepless night anticipating all of the different challenges we'd encounter with obtaining our rental car and navigating a route out of Rome. The tension heightened somewhat in the morning when our cab driver couldn't locate where the rental station was at Termini the main rail station.

Well we finally found the rental kiosk and much to my non-surprise we were rewarded with probably the worst customer service experience I've witnessed as an old.  The highlights?  Getting an invoice that was twice as expensive as the quote I reserved online.  A customer service agent who greeted me in fluent English when we arrived but suddenly lost all ability to communicate when asked why the invoice was so much more expensive.  A dismissive point in a general direction when he was telling us where to pick up the car.  All told it took 10 questions, 15 minutes, 5 people and a 1/2 mile walk through the busy streets of Rome to discover the car on the 7th floor of a nondescript parking garage.
Before I proceed any further let me make a confident declaration.  Customer Service, as we know it, does not exist in Italy.  It isn't part of the 'dolce vita'.  Nothing is easy in this country.  The simplest tasks are mired in traffic, red tape, negotiations, and uncertainty.  It's no surprise that they haven't
done anything of note in the past 50 years.  Really, ask yourself.  When you visit Italy are you visiting anything that was designed or developed in the past 100 years?  Food and fashion don't count. Keep that in mind next time you get swept up in some sun soaked Tuscan dream about living here.

The view from Orvieto, a true Umbrian gem

Anyways, after a white knuckled 30 minutes of navigating the streets and traffic we were out of Rome proper and en route to Florence.  We had originally planned to head out to Tivoli but it just seemed too difficult to change course and head in a different direction without really impacting our schedule.

I will follow up my criticism of Italy with a compliment.  The Autostrada is a vision.  It is a smooth running thorough fare that really does a good job moving traffic.  Yes you will pay plenty in the form of tolls and yes there are very few exits along the way.  But I felt at home driving at 95 in our rental car.   The sanctity of the left lane is preserved which is something I rarely see at home in the States.  I always got a lot of criticism for being an 'aggressive' driver back home.  I just realized that I am an awesome driver, I've just been honing my craft in the wrong country.

We did want to make one stop before Florence.  I've always been intrigued with Orvieto.  It is conveniently located, relatively speaking, off of the freeway and is a must stop for anyone wanting to experience an authentic Umbrian/Tuscan hill town.  The highlight is the view and the church, both featured in this post with pictures. The church, in particular, is as ornate and spectacular as the buildings in Florence or Siena.  90 minutes was more than enough time to take everything in and we were soon back on the road.

Nice work Brunelleschi

We arrived at the Hotel Villa Betania around 3pm.  It gave me the chance to walk down to the historic center before dinner.  We are located overlooking the city just above the Boboli Gardens.  This is the
perfect spot if you have a car.  We have a quiet home base tucked away from the hustle of the city yet we are only a 20 minute walk from the action.

Florence is an absolute gem of a city.  It's incredible that two of the most impactful periods in recorded history (Rome and Renaissance) took place so close to each other. I was able to make my way through the major landmarks (Duomo, Piazza de la signoria, Ponte Vecchio, etc...) with relative ease on foot.  I did notice a sizeable uptick in American patronage here, specifically in the manifestation of college girls.  Women love this city.

Beef...it's what's rarely for dinner here

We were able to locate a good Tuscan trattoria for dinner, Da Ruggero.    First things first, we had to get our bistecca fiorentina.  Italians don't do beef very often but this an exception.  Yes, it was good but this is one area where we have the better product.  All in all the experience was memorable and this place would serve us dinner a couple more times.

So chapter 1 of our trip has come to a close and we are excited to open up the next adventure.




Other notes and highlights:

• Italian tip of the day- Rent a car from a US based firm like Hertz or Avis.  You will have hope for customer service and potential recourse should you have any issues.  We got none of that from Europecar.
• Food Highlight-  The ribollita at Da Ruggero.
• Random Observation-  It appears that Italians love Westerns.  Every time we turned on the TV we were able to find something from Eastwood or Wayne.  I also noticed that Walker Texas Ranger is alive and well soaking up the syndication here.