Lessons from the road

I have some random thoughts about my second trip to Italy this year. This is not  an AI-generated ode to the joys of Italy (I did, after all, visit myself) but rather a more sober look at the realities of traveling in Italy in summer. We all know that July and August are hot, humid, and touristy, but this was the month it suited my son to visit me in Portugal, and he had a plan: "Mom, I NEED to go to Italy" (note the need, not want!).

He had a specific plan: visit Tuscany, taste 20 different beers, have a cooking class, eat schiacciata sandwiches and Florentine steak, and visit the leather university in Florence. He managed to tick all these boxes with great enthusiasm, having beers number nine and ten while we were stuck at a service station when our cherry red Fiat500 died, which brings me to my point about traveling in Europe in summer.

When delays define the journey

We spent more time being delayed than we spent actually flying or driving. Think about that for a second: Lisbon T2 is renowned for being a crummy place to wait for your flight. This time we had a three-hour delay for a 2 hour and 45-minute flight. On arrival in Pisa, it was well after midnight, not a taxi or public transport to be found, so we walked to our hotel. Only three kilometers, and we traveled light (backpack and hat), so the midnight walk was hot and humid but manageable. Nic had cold beer number one at that hotel reception!

We then spent some time in Montepulciano (fabulous, love the agriturismos, cold swimming pools, pasta classes, and fabulous food there) and then drove to Florence. Our dinky car became unstuck, fortunately at a rest stop, so after multiple calls and three hours of waiting for zero response from Europcar (shame on you fellows!), I called a taxi, locked the car, took multiple photos of where it died, and went to Florence.

I could write a book about bad client service, but eventually convinced the youngster at Europcar that despite this breakdown not being his problem, it was even less mine ("It is not my job to fetch your car," he said). At least there was a fabulous gelato shop right next to Europcar, so we did not suffer greatly.

The return journey saga

Our return was a similar story: easy transfer to Pisa, well on time as a good traveler should be, only to have a 3.5-hour delay at Pisa airport. We snagged the last two seats in a lounge before they closed the doors on a queue of disgruntled, hot travelers.  The fridges were broken (happens in 40+ degrees I guess!) and the ice machine had given up the ghost … so no more beers for us!  But we had somewhere to sit and the air-conditioner worked so that was a win!

The moral of the story

So the moral of this little travel saga is: choose your travel partners well (I like my son!), travel light, eat ALL the local food and gelato that you can, and be prepared to adapt to whatever the travel gods send your way.

Oh, and don't use Europcar in Tuscany.

To find out more about our Italy program here