Next morning we are up bright and early to catch the bus out to the airport to pick up the car. We aren’t sure what to expect as we haven’t actually seen a Smartcar in Australia. After picking up the keys and getting directions as to how to get back into Florence, we head off to the car park.

And there it is a tiny little thing with just enough room for the two of us and a couple of handbags. It is so cute that we have to keep looking at it, considering it looks like a tonka toy.

smartcar

Well in we hop, me driving and Paula navigating. A few laps around the airport carpark to get used to having the controls on the opposite side and learning to stay on the other side of the road and off we go.
Hmmmm, a little bit nerve wracking to start but it doesn’t take long to get the hang of it. Always remember, if the cars are coming directly towards you – move over – you are on the wrong side of the road and the driver is always nearest to the centre median strip.
Now it’s time to set off to find the Guiseppe Armani factory in Casole’ d elsa or at least that’s where I thought it was. But you know the story by now – it wasn’t there at all.

So here we are driving down the highway at a nice steady pace, cars are zooming past with gay abandon – reckless fools. Okay this doesn’t seem too bad now that we’re getting the hang of it, right time to move to the fast lane, just wait for a break in the traffic – god is it ever going to end, doesn’t anyone go slow in this country.

And moving over heart in mouth, we are finally travelling at a great rate of knots. Whoo hoo this is great.

Trying to figure out where we are:

Here’s Paula with Chilli on top of the car having a look around the countryside.
Here I am being totally relaxed with our prime objective Casole d elsa in the background.

So off we go up to the town. There is one road going through the town, you enter in one end and keep on driving to go out the other. All the other streets are for walking only.

We stop at a shop to ask directions, guess what, the only person in the shop who speaks English is an American who had arrived the day before.

However, at the mention of Guiseppe Armani the lady behind the counter rushes around, takes my arm and guides me to a man outside the shop and with much gesturing from her, he takes me into a doorway down the road a bit and up some narrow stairs where we meet a young woman, who understands a tiny little bit of English. I keep repeating Guiseppe Armani simply because it seems to strike some sort of recognition in the townsfolk.

So, no, she doesn’t know where the factory is but I might be able to find someone at the police station down by the piazza. Great so I have no idea where the piazza might be. I meet up with Paula and we go into another shop asking where the piazza is and with much gesturing and pantomime we finally set off in the right direction.

Wwe giggle all the way down the road, thinking how naive of us to think that everyone in the world speaks and understands English.

The next stop the Police station – guess what – they don’t understand English either, but hope is at hand, someone knows someone who might be able to help. And sure enough a young boy of about 14 years is found and brought to speak to me. I am just about to fall at his feet and kiss them by this stage.

His English is hesitant but he understands what I am looking for and sure enough it isn’t here.

So he tells us how to find the factory and with much gratitude we set off.

Casole d elsa is just how I have always pictured it would be – there are men sitting around talking and playing chess and women having conversations at 100 decibles, talking over each other. To me it’s perfect.

Filed under: Italy • Tuscany

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