Furniture Construction Trip >>> Day 3 (Saturday): Here (sort of)
It’s 6:33 AM in Columbus; 12:33 PM here in Fano.
I made it into Ancona from Milan right on time. As would be expected, no bags. Didn’t see that one coming.
However, rental car is brand new Fiat Croma (small station wagon). I have plenty of hauling room for whatever else I still need to procure.
The drive to Fano, normally about 20 minutes, took a bit longer as they are resurfacing the autostrada and have a lane closed … one of two. I immediately notice that drivers are more polite here … alternating (sort of) to get over for the construction. No honking, no flipping the bird, no cutting people off. But, don’t hesitate when someone gives you an opening. Like Shumy, ya gotta go for it the millisecond the opening is available, or they’ll know immediately you’re a foreigner. For more Italian driving commentary, see my blog entry here:
http://marcofano.blogspot.com/2006/04/driving-in-italy.html
When I arrived at the apartment, it was jammed with boxes and the two couches we bought from IKEA. Just jammed. Pictures later.
So I went to work. So far, two couches unpacked, boxes moved to their respective proper rooms, master bed constructed (I even slept in it … very firm mattress … heavenly!), and a good start on the buffet for the living room/kitchen area.
I worked from arrival straight through until 9:00 PM or so. Showered, and prepared to go out for what I thought was a quick pizza and a gelato.
I then proceeded to lock myself out of the apartment by picking up the wrong set of keys! This is a MAJOR problem in Italy, as Italians are totally paranoid about their personal security. Every door is like a bank vault door (I do not exaggerate). I’ll post a few photos of the door later. You’ll be able to see the multiple hardened carbon steel bolts that run along each side of the door. No way to pick those babies unless you’re a member of the Oceans Eleven (or Twelve) team.
Luckily, the brother of our real estate agent who lives above us had a key … but it was at his office and he was home alone with a sick 1-year-old. So, his dear sister, our agent, at 11:00 at night went to their office and then brought the key to me at the restaurant. How much sweeter can someone be … and I’m a complete foreigner. I need to buy her a small gift as a token of appreciation … she saved my bacon.
After dinner, where I met 3 Americans in two separate incidents (very rare here … more on this later), I went back to the apartment and worked until 4 AM … too wired to sleep. Packed it in a 4, and slept through until noon … a solid 8 hours of sleep after almost none for 48 hours. Was awoken by a security guard at the airport calling to let me know my bags are in! Va benne! So, it’s off to the airport to grab the bags and have everything I need to knock of the zillion items on my to-do list.
A presto …
Ciao … Marco
I made it into Ancona from Milan right on time. As would be expected, no bags. Didn’t see that one coming.
However, rental car is brand new Fiat Croma (small station wagon). I have plenty of hauling room for whatever else I still need to procure.
The drive to Fano, normally about 20 minutes, took a bit longer as they are resurfacing the autostrada and have a lane closed … one of two. I immediately notice that drivers are more polite here … alternating (sort of) to get over for the construction. No honking, no flipping the bird, no cutting people off. But, don’t hesitate when someone gives you an opening. Like Shumy, ya gotta go for it the millisecond the opening is available, or they’ll know immediately you’re a foreigner. For more Italian driving commentary, see my blog entry here:
http://marcofano.blogspot.com/2006/04/driving-in-italy.html
When I arrived at the apartment, it was jammed with boxes and the two couches we bought from IKEA. Just jammed. Pictures later.
So I went to work. So far, two couches unpacked, boxes moved to their respective proper rooms, master bed constructed (I even slept in it … very firm mattress … heavenly!), and a good start on the buffet for the living room/kitchen area.
I worked from arrival straight through until 9:00 PM or so. Showered, and prepared to go out for what I thought was a quick pizza and a gelato.
I then proceeded to lock myself out of the apartment by picking up the wrong set of keys! This is a MAJOR problem in Italy, as Italians are totally paranoid about their personal security. Every door is like a bank vault door (I do not exaggerate). I’ll post a few photos of the door later. You’ll be able to see the multiple hardened carbon steel bolts that run along each side of the door. No way to pick those babies unless you’re a member of the Oceans Eleven (or Twelve) team.
Luckily, the brother of our real estate agent who lives above us had a key … but it was at his office and he was home alone with a sick 1-year-old. So, his dear sister, our agent, at 11:00 at night went to their office and then brought the key to me at the restaurant. How much sweeter can someone be … and I’m a complete foreigner. I need to buy her a small gift as a token of appreciation … she saved my bacon.
After dinner, where I met 3 Americans in two separate incidents (very rare here … more on this later), I went back to the apartment and worked until 4 AM … too wired to sleep. Packed it in a 4, and slept through until noon … a solid 8 hours of sleep after almost none for 48 hours. Was awoken by a security guard at the airport calling to let me know my bags are in! Va benne! So, it’s off to the airport to grab the bags and have everything I need to knock of the zillion items on my to-do list.
A presto …
Ciao … Marco
posted by Mark Pukita | 7:40 AM
1 Comments:
I deliberately refuse to buy trips with more than 3 legs. You're pretty sure that something will go wrong in those anyway. Good that they found your bags, my friend had to wait 6 days in the US without his bag when flying Northwest, and had to carry double the weight on the way back since he needed to purchase pretty much everything at destination.
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