I ditched my exercise for the morning with several excuses in the bag: 1. my head yet again felt on the verge of migraine, 2. it was wet and thundery, and 3. we needed to drop the car off at Amanda's before 8.30am (which would involve us both driving there so that Stuart wouldn't be stranded down the hill). I therefore felt (fairly) guilt-free snoozing my alarm until 7.45am.
Once we were up, the cats were fed and the geese were released for the day, we grabbed both sets of car keys and set off down the hill to Amanda's. Stuart was driving the 182 bus and I was driving the Fiat 500L. Stuart shot off down the drive, and I followed. Well, that is, I tried to follow. I managed to get about a third of the way up the drive before getting the car stuck. Over the last few months the very heavy rains we have had have played havoc with the surface of the driveway. There are now deep channels that have been carved out by the rivers of water that run down the drive when the rain is particularly heavy - in fact, you can see the gravel top surface of the drive all washed over the edge of the bank, disappearing down the hill. So it was a combination of these deep channels that have appeared in the drive, plus some squelchy mud (thanks to the overnight/early morning weather conditions) and my nervous hesitance at driving yet another different car that ended up getting me and the car literally stuck in a rut.
I stopped the car (not that it was moving anywhere!) and ran to the end of the drive, where I thought Stuart would be waiting for me at the gate. However, he had disappeared into the distance - for which I was thankful, because at least he would get the car to Amanda's on time, and could then wait for me to arrive and pick him up. So I then ran back down the drive and knocked on the door to the apartment to ask to 'borrow' Dad. I explained, while trying to catch my breath, that I had managed to get the car stuck, and needed him to help me out! Dad came to the rescue, put his shoes on and walked with me to the car. While I sat in the driver's seat, Dad advised which way to turn the wheel, and we edged the car slowly backwards until it was in a suitable position to try again. I then put it into gear and gave it some welly and was off up the drive!
By the time I reached Amanda's, Stuart was just finishing a cup of coffee and Amanda was on the phone to Enrico, explaining to him that our car was still under guarantee and that if he found a big problem, we would need to take it back to the dealership to get them to fix it at their cost. Stuart looked at me quizzically, I explained that I had got stuck on the drive, but I don't think he believed me. Sigh. Anyway, after a quick chat with Amanda, we were on our way - and I was relieved to be in the passenger seat once again.
On coming back down the driveway, Stuart spotted the section that I had churned up with the wheels and laughed in disbelief that I had got stuck there, because there wasn't even a hole to get stuck in. I insisted that there was. When we got to the house and parked up, Dad greeted us and told us that he had just been up the driveway and partially filled the rut with stones from the extension site/dumping ground, to make it easier to drive over. Ha! I felt vindicated!! We all agreed that putting some proper drainage channels into the drive and repairing some of the ruts should be a priority, especially with winter on its way.
By now, the weather was still damp in the air, but the heavy rains and the thunder had all gone. The forecast for the day was for a little rain (7mm to be precise), and we decided that our plan would be to go into Pescia for a coffee and to look for postcards first of all, then to head into Lucca for a half-day, returning to the house early enough in the afternoon to fit in a bit of log-moving and work (for me) before dark.
We therefore all piled back into the hire car and headed into town. We parked up in the main square and went straight into one of the cafés for a round of coffees, which were much enjoyed. By the time we left the café the rain had started coming down again. No matter, we were equipped with waterproofs, and we did a very quick circuit around the block to show Mum and Dad some of the places of note in the town. As we walked, though, the rain got heavier and heavier. We decided to concentrate on finding some postcards so that we could get out of the wet. The postcard hunt proved more difficult than we had expected - and even when we did find some, they were not to Mum's taste, so we carried on. The rain seemed to be getting heavier and heavier, so we sought refuge underneath the awning of a shop.
 |
| Wet, wet, wet. |
 |
| Definitely damp. |
We eventually made a dash for it to try one last shop before admitting defeat - we knew that there would be a far wider range of postcards for sale in Lucca, so decided to leave the hunt until we reached there.
Stuart gallantly made a run for it back to get the car, while Mum, Dad and I sheltered, then he picked us up and we set off on our way to Lucca - all sitting rather damply in the car.
As we reached the outskirts of Lucca, the weather seemed to dry up, and we even spotted a small patch of blue in the sky. We parked the car, and walked into the centre of the city, heading for one of our favoured spots, the Piazza Anfiteatro. Since it was nearing 12pm, and we were all keen to find somewhere where we could avail ourselves of the bathroom facilities (feeling the effects of our earlier coffees!), we decided we would have an early lunch - so we chose one of the many restaurants that surround the perimeter of the piazza and sat at one of the outside tables. The weather was dry by this point, and not cold, so outdoor dining seemed appropriate (plus the tables were under cover should the heavens open once again).
 |
| Lunch al fresco. |
We had an enjoyable lunch, with Mum opting for a vegetable soup, Dad and Stuart having the tortellini Lucchese, and I had a large panino with tuna and salad. Feeling fortified after our lunch, we decided to try to find a Roman museum that Mum and Dad had found out about via a leaflet that had been left in the apartment (we're not sure whether some of our earlier visitors picked it up and left it there or whether it had been in amongst a pile of information that we had inherited from the previous owners). We navigated our way out of the piazza, via the warren-like streets to the museum.
The museum only opened in 2012, with the discovery of part of a Roman villa having been made beneath the palazzo in which it is housed in 2010. We went in and were greeted by the very friendly curator, who first led us into a room to show us a short film about the place (in Italian but thankfully with English subtitles). When that had finished, the curator came back to find us and give us a fully guided tour with mini-lecture about Roman Lucca and the remains that had been found in this very spot. Her patter was very engaging and informative, and she was very easy to listen to. Since we were the only ones there in the tiny museum, she was also only too happy to answer our questions (most of which came from Mum and Dad - the experienced Roman archaeologists of the party).
The private museum really only houses a tiny section of wall of a Roman villa - when excavating the wine cellar of the palazzo in which it is housed, archaeologists first found a medieval floor, and beneath that (3m below street level), they found Roman structures. Lucca itself was founded by the Romans - prior to which it had simply been swamp land. The Etruscans (who inhabited these parts before the Romans - but preferred to live in the hills) used the word 'lucca' (or something similar) to refer to swamp land - so in fact that may be where the city's name comes from.
Of course, all of the Roman structures are now 3m below street level of the beautiful city of Lucca - and the owners of the palazzos and churches are not going to start digging beneath them to uncover much more of Roman Lucca! However, the curator did point out several places in the city in which you can still see parts of the Roman town - whether blocks of stone incorporated into churches or old walls.
The museum tour was brief, but very interesting - like the museum itself: small, but perfectly formed! There was just enough information to take all of it in without starting to feel overloaded, and we left feeling pleased to have found it.
After we left the museum, we attempted to find a few of the places that had been pointed out to us as still having traces of the Romans in them - we viewed the large church of San Michele, the duomo, and the small church of Santa Maria della Rosa, before climbing up onto the Renaissance era walls of the city to walk part of those.
Since everyone was starting to flag a little by this point (a combination of a by now quite warm and humid day and the after effects of yesterday's trek), we decided to make the famous Guinigi Tower our last stop before heading home. We visited the Guinigi tower with Stuart's Mum and Kerys and Ben, and our house sitters Louise and Dan did the same. It's one of those landmarks that you can't miss out - a tower with trees (a 'hanging garden') on the top.
Stuart and I waited at the bottom while Mum and Dad climbed the 230 steps up to the top to inspect the holm oaks growing on top of the tower and to take in the spectacular 360 degree views of the mountains surrounding the city.
 |
| We waved, but they didn't spot us! |
 |
| Winter warmth! |
The labourers finished their back-breaking work just as I was wrapping things up in the office, so Stuart and I went to put the geese to bed (tonight they really did go into their house in record time - they are certainly learning to be more cooperative in terms of going to bed, but they are still disappointingly quiet - barely a honk between them!!).
After that, it was time for us to go and collect the car again from Amanda's. On the way home we'd spotted that it was back outside her shop waiting for us. We drove down in the hire car and went in to see her - and she explained (or tried to!) what Enrico had told her was wrong with the car. With Amanda struggling to find English words for some of the more technical terms, and all three of us struggling to understand anything about car mechanics, we think that the gist of it was that the problem was being caused by a new part in the starter motor (a cable or wire?), that we should keep an eye on the radiator water and the gear box oil, as they were draining rather quickly, but that we shouldn't have the same problem again...!
We thanked Amanda profusely, and asked her to pass our thanks on to Enrico too. We bought a couple of bottles of wine from her, then she sent us on our way, with strict instructions to come back and talk about something more interesting than car mechanics next time!!
So once again I took the wheel of the hire car - somewhat alarmingly, this time in the dark. Thankfully, the drive back up the hill passed without incident, and we made it home with both cars in one piece.
It was then time to blog, finish cooking dinner and sit down to a family meal of home cooked ragu with pasta and shavings of truffle cheese, before planning tomorrow's activities.
No comments:
Post a Comment