| Globaltickit.com A Real Life Adventure |
A Visual World Article by Tila Clark |
| A Long Night's Journey into the Mountains of Tuscany & Emila Romagna, Italy. |
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Of course, he is such a contented little boy anyway – and this flight was no exception. Anyway, we arrived one hour behind schedule as there was a computer failure at air traffic control in the United Kingdom which put out all the British airport controls for a while. By the time we got to the airport there were only a few short delays rather than cancellations, thank goodness! |
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 So
we headed directly for Car Rentals. We got our car, all right! (possibly
only half of it). Our car turns out to be one of those Fiat smart-cars
for traveling around the city, but it made it to the mountains and
back (but I'm jumping ahead of myself.) It was dark at 10pm when we
drove out of the airport for our 4 hour trip to the mountains…
so we thought! |
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| Driving out into the Italy on the motorway was quite a fun experience. We noticed a few things straight away. They drive VERY FAST! (even more so than in the UK and that’s saying something!), but they seemed to be aware of what they are doing (which is more than they do in India). [Yes, you worriers, it was perfectly safe.] | |
 The
second thing we noticed was that there were loads of castles/churches/monasteries
and other ancient type structures. It was amazing to see them from
the road, floodlit, taking pride of place on hill tops in the cities
and towns along the way. We were beginning to be very excited. |
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| Vibodha continued to drive, he said he was doing well and he was getting used to the type of driving and layout of the roads. When I held his hand, Devon drifted off to sleep almost as soon as we got moving and slept soundly the entire way. | |
By this time it was 1.00am. I said, "I think we will be pulling up to our house around 1.30am"…boy was I wrong… We continued driving on the motorway north of Florence (which still held the odd floodlit structure) and were waiting for the sign for Modena Sud, our turn off…. |
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it never came…a quick look a the map told us that we were NOT going to cross the mountains by a small road West, but instead have to go all the way AROUND the mountains to the North and then come back South again on the other side ….this could take HOURS…! (It did.) At 3.30am we were still driving! We were starting to doubt our decision to stay in this place. We discuss our options, should we stop in a hotel now and forget about the mountain house? NO. |
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After getting lost about 3 times on the road, after finally finding our exit Modena Sud, we found the correct direction down a country road into the mountains. Remember that it is PITCH BLACK. The roads wound along, through the mountains, but we can see nothing of the countryside! |
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| Another HOUR later, after turning around a few times in the village our accommodation was supposed to be in, we turn down another small lane. We drive and drive up and up and arrive at what looks like a dirt road (maybe a driveway?). By this time I'm thinking ‘this is ridiculous’. We can’t see anything, we don't really know where we are, and we are just trusting that we will end up where we are supposed to be... Il Sentiero. At last we do! | |
Finally we unload ourselves and Devon, and all our bags into our resting place. I settled Devon down to sleep in his own little bed with lots of blankets, because it is COLD, and we promptly fell asleep. |
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| Devon, of course, has had a great night's sleep and wakes at his normal time of 7am. We, of course had only really gotten to sleep, and had only 3 hours! Needless to say we were reluctant to get up. After playing for few minutes in our bed with his toys, I could see he was getting restless so rather than resist him, I choose to join him. | |
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BOY, was this worth it! Yes, we are on the side of a mountain! Yes, we do have the most beautiful view of the valley below and the houses and farms dotted around the countryside. Il Sentiero is set most of the way up a mountain side and has lots of facilities. A swing for Devon and a few other toys were dotted throughout the property, a swimming pool near the forest, lots of green green grass, and many areas to have wonderful meals outdoors. I AM SO GLAD WE TRUSTED!! |
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On the way back out the driveway we met a car that, at the sight of us, stopped. A man gets out … it is Loris, the owner and man we have been communicating with. He welcomed me and checked that everything was OK. I told him that me and Devon were going to look for bread and milk, and he said ‘follow me’. He led us into the village of Trentino, a little tiny village just minutes away from our hideaway. |
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| Devon and I went into the shop (which is also a pizzeria restaurant and take way!!!! – yahoo!!!) and straight away learned some Italian. ‘Panne’ is bread, ‘latte’ is milk, ‘excusa’ is excuse me, ‘grazia’ is thank you. The atmosphere in the little shop was fun. It reminded me of my Auntie Anna’s place in Ramelton (in the South of Ireland). We picked up some yummy things like fresh strawberries, apples and bananas, cornflakes, butter and some other essentials and headed home. | |
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I am so excited, seeing as he hasn’t seen were we were yet! He took Devon outside into what was now bright sunshine, and the smile on his face was precious! A great choice, I acknowledge him for finding such a haven. We eat our breakfast over looking the valley! AAAAHHHHH! |
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Isn’t life wonderful! |
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| - FRIENDLINESS - COMPASSION - CHEERFULNESS - GRATITUDE - |
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We
landed in Rome after a great flight, and yet again many of our co-passengers
commented on how amazing Devon is at traveling. 
Time
rolled on, we listened to Italian music channels as we drove in
and out of reception areas; we were having a great time. Looking
at the map, we will soon be at Florence and then our retreat is
not too far from there….hurray! 
Let’s
trust and keep going. So we did. 
Vibodha
see the light which was left on for us and explored around to see
if he can find the apartment, and more importantly, the key. After
a few minutes, he came back and said we'd arrived at the right place,
and it seemed very ‘cute’. 
Letting
Vibodha sleep, (seeing as he was exhausted from 6 hours of driving
in the dark, over mountain roads) I opened the doors to our little
house to see where we were and …
I
nearly ran straight back inside to wake him up. 
So,
Devon and I jumped into the car and went looking for breakfast to
surprise ‘Dad’. 
Hurray
Dad is still sleeping! We prepared the breakfast and tea and very
soon after he awakens!