“DARLING, THERE IS A CAMEL IN MY SOUP”

Yesterday was a day of near misses.

We travelled to Florence by bus from Sienna and then by train to Lucca.

The time table for the departure of the bus said 10.10am. Arriving at the bus station meant a downhill walk, thankfully for one last time, through Sienna’s cobbled streets.  Arriving at 9.50 am we found we had missed the bus and the next one was at 10.45am. Waiting on the bus stop we observed the next bus to Florence arrive at 10.30am and depart at 10.35am. Never mind we had an interesting chat with Mike Holman and his wife Viv. We thought, at first, that  they were Kiwis from their accent , from Auckland in fact, until he explained he had been in Sienna to collect a prize for one of his photographs that Ilze has explained, we had been delighted to view in the Museo Civico, Palazzo Comunale Sienna. We then claimed him as an Aussie in traditional fashion. You can check out his work on facebook etc.

Arriving in Florence in time to catch the 1.10pm train from Florence to Lucca we found it had left earlier and the next was at 1.35pm. Go figure.

We arrived in Lucca, a medieval town of great beauty that we have visited before. On that occasion we were entranced by the quietness of the town and the nightly Puccini concert in his old church.

Just missed it. The last one was the day before.

We were confronted by chaos, traffic diversions from the station meant we had to lug our suitcases up over the bridge and descend into what can only be described as a seething mob. It took us nearly 30 minutes to move the 300mtres to our lodgings. We had arrived during the annual DC Comics and Sci-fi Festival. 300.000 visitors per day.

En-route we met, Spiderman, Superman, Batman, Dracula, Hermione Grainger, Sauron, Ninjas, Storm-troopers, Death-eaters, the Incredible Hulk, Wonder-woman, Wookies , Zombies and almost the entire cast from the Star Wars series. And that was just in the first street.

Outside our Hotel, in the della Olivo, was parked a Bristol SE5. A real one. A Sopwith Camel. Nearby we spotted the Red Barron, Erwin Rommel, Napoleon, a hand full of survivors from Desert Storm 1 and a Mark 11 Tiger tank.

Our hotel, the Antica Cortica was charming but up on the 3^rd floor with no lifts and dark narrow stone stairs. We then found out that we had missed the last Puccini concert for the season so after two vinos and two grappas, (even Ilze had a Limoncello and now wants the receipt) we negotiated the medieval stairs one last time, wrestled the 13^th Century wi-fi into submission, booked an extra night at the Hotel Duomo in Florence and bolted at first light.

I now sit with a respectable, soothing, Toscana Sangiovese and if I lean out the window I can see glory.

C3PeteO.