On the day of our departure from Firenze, there were a few errands to run before leaving, the most important of which was my returning to the Scuola del Cuoio and buying the beautiful, hand-made, black leather jacket I had seen the day before....
As I emerged from the shop, I heard some distant rumblings of thunder, the first intimation that the lovely weather we had enjoyed was coming to the end. Julianna had returned to the car first, and had things organized and the windows rolled down to it air out. I tossed the jacket in the back, got in the front seat, and prepared myself for a long drive in the rain. Pressed the Prius "Start" button... and nothing happened. Again... nothing. Tried to put up the windows... they inched up slightly before stopping entirely. And then the rain started. It was pouring, the windows were open, we couldn't open the trunk to see if there were jumper cables in the trunk because the trunk is electronic, and we don't know the words for "dead battery" or "Can you jump my car?" And it was 12:30, the beginning of the Italian 2 hr. daily siesta. All the Americans in Florence were camped in a cafe somewhere, or back on the tour bus, and none of the Italian drivers understood English, or had cables.
For two hours, we stood in the rain, watching the rain pour off the tarp we were able to throw over the top of the car, and periodically going around the corner to see if the nearby mechanic had opened back up yet. We couldn't leave the car and go hang out somewhere warm and dry since the windows were open and some stuff was out on the sidewalk, and the tarp kept blowing up in the wind. That was about the longest, most unpleasant two hours I've spent, though Julianna was incredibly calm and collected about the whole thing.
By 2:15, the rain had about stopped, and I finally discovered someone at the garage, though his only response to my fumbling attempts to communicate the problem was to say that they open at 2:30... about 2:35, a young guy pulled up, tossed a spare battery and charger in the back seat of a car, and had the Prius restarted in about 10 minutes. He refused payment very graciously, but we were able to press a bottle of Rainoldi Brut Rose on him, so we felt like we were able to demonstrate our appreciation for his help. Such a relief to leave Firenze and head up to Piemonte.
I had made reservations at a very reasonably priced B&B, that happened to be the in-law apartment of a winery, Az. Ag. Fratelli Ferraro. It was a nice, newly remodeled room, with a little kitchenette, and lots of space and a small patio, so we were able to hang up all our wet clothes, and bring all the suitcases inside for repacking and drying. The weather was dry and clear and warm and the sunset behind hills covered in vines was stunning. We found a nice place to eat up in La Morra, and finally felt able to put Firenze behind us.View Larger Map
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