Despite all the planning and attention to detail of our trip organizers, the eight days in Tuscany was not without problems. Some were self-inflicted. On our first full day of sightseeing, as we were stepping into the Piazza del Duomo in Pisa, the tower was not the only thing leaning. I didn't see that there was a small step down and didn't balance for a step down. Consequently I fell flat, skinning my right knee, stubbing two toes on the right foot, and slightly twisting my right ankle. This meant that for the rest of the trip I was walking on an injured leg and had a swollen right foot. It didn't help that commercial buses (other than the city bus) aren't allowed up the hill in San Gimignano where we were staying, so we had to be let off at the bus terminal and hike several blocks up a steep hill. After the arrival day when we had all hiked up the hill with our carryons (a truck brought up our suitcases), our bus driver negotiated with the police to allow an easier climb from the city bus stop. They agreed to let 10 or 12 of our 30-member group use the easier route. We had one lady with MS who walks with a cane for balance, another man probably in his 80's or late 70's, a couple overweight women including me, etc. So I joined what we called the F-Troop, who had the easier hike down the hill in the morning and up the hill in the evening (but still steep enough in the final approach to the town square to cause breathlessness.)
Then there was the taxi driver incident in Assisi. I had been to Assisi before, so after the tour of the Basilica of St. Francis, I was ready to go to the taxi point at the top of the hill to be driven back to the bus terminal rather than descending to the crypt to view St. Francis's burial place. Three other ladies were with me though one changed her mind and went down to joint the others outside the crypt. The guide said he would phone a taxi for us. We waited for some time in the sun and Susan became impatient so she went into the restaurant and asked one of the servers to phone us a taxi. A Mercedes taxi came and we settled into it. Then a van comes tearing up the hill inquiring for the four ladies who needed a taxi. An argument ensued. Susan wanted to pay the van driver 10 Euros to leave but he was insisting we get out of the Mercedes taxi and into his vehicle. Faith stepped out and ended up between the two arguing taxi drivers. Eventually we got into the van (with some difficulty for me with my short legs and injury) and he sped off to the bus terminal where he slowed down but did not completely come to a stop at the crosswalk and he nudged two of the pedestrian members of our group who were in the crosswalk! One or both of them slapped the outside of the van in self-defense and the driver got out, sought a police official near by, and asked him to ticket the two men for slapping his van! This after he nearly ran them over in the crosswalk! The policeman starts writing them up while we are saying that the driver is the one who should be arrested or lose his license. The policeman is telling us to speak Italian, not English. Finally our guide comes up and helps mediate a ceasefire--no one is ticketed.
Our bus driver was an excellent driver and very helpful. Too helpful as it turned out. As we were leaving Castello Banfi I was with Susan and another person and we were crossing the parking lot towards the bus. Someone calls out "Stay there, I'll bring the bus to you." He starts backing up the bus and backs into the utility pole (the only obstacle in the middle of the parking lot.) This after his expert maneuvering through tight spots including backing up for a long distance next to the buildings at Castello Banfi upon our arrival. The collision took out a taillight (not such a biggie) and the radiator. Now the bus is disabled and we have to wait about 90 minutes for another bus to arrive to take us back to San Gimignano. Such a pity and unnecessary as we were walking on level ground to the bus and could have easily walked the extra distance.
Our tour arranger had to argue with the staff of several restaurants where we had lunch to have them provide both water and wine free as the contract stated. They wanted to charge if we asked for both white and red wine or additional bottles of water since we were usually hot and thirsty when we arrived.
The final straw was the Italian workers' general strike called for the day of Sept. 6--the day we were to fly from Pisa to London to NYC. All flights were canceled. Lori worked really hard to make other arrangements for us so that we could all be on the same flight back to the USA (24 of us counting Lil and Lori as 8 were staying longer in Italy.) She was at the Pisa airport at 5:00 AM and spent hours in line. Finally British Air and American Airlines came through. It would be two more days before we could take a Pisa flight to London so we were booked on a flight direct from Milan (Milano) to JFK in NYC. British Air provided a bus to take us to Milan and put us up at a Novotel near the airport with free dinner that night and breakfast the next day. The bus was much more cramped than the one we had been on, and had a terrible suspension system. Every bump we went over caused me pain in the right knee. The trip was about five hours of driving (plus a half-hour stop at a rest stop.)
The next day we departed from Milan to NYC. The plane was not full and I had an empty middle seat in my section of three seats across the middle of the plane. I mentioned to Lori that the flight back to NYC seemed much easier than the night flight to London and she said it seemed shorter than the bus ride from Pisa to Milan. Ditto that. I had planned to spend two nights in NYC and take an afternoon flight to Raleigh-Durham Airport on Sept. 8. Instead I had only one night in NYC and had to cancel a lunch reservation on the 7th but did keep my dinner reservation that night at Le Perigord. I found out that in changing our tickets from Pisa, my reservation on the 8th from JFK to RDU was canceled also although I had told them when processing in that I stilled planned to keep that part of the reservation. However, the seat had not been reassigned and I still got aboard. We were delayed a bit on the tarmac to reroute our flight due to strong winds (remnants of Lee) off the Maryland coast. Instead we were routed west of Philadelphia. Still a somewhat turbulent flight--glad it wasn't any worse.
Glad to be back on the ground again and back in USA. I don't think Lil will ever take a tour group to Italy again even though the Tuscany trip sold out quickly and others were hoping he would offer it again.
Next year along with his annual trip to his native home of Provence, he may take a tour to Normandy.