We have arrived, and while I may grow to hate our Lancia...

We are in Italy!  For my wife and I, it is back in Italy.  My daughter has been in Italy before, but as she was not even two, it is a bit much to expect her to remember anything.  So really it is the first time for both to be here. It was a very early morning trip here and we arrived in Pisa in good time.  The only downside was the wait for the car.  As you can see, some companies are more popular than others when booking online and that means the people who book with the other companies get quicker service and get their car sooner.  It was not bad service just popular and slow.  The worst service we had was from GoldCar two years ago when in Portugal, slow and a constant barrage of selling for additional perks.  We were lucky as others had service to really complain about.  We ended up with a nice car then so it was not too bad.

And the car itself.  I guess we have been spoiled in the past with cars, a Focus in Jersey and a Peugeot when in Portugal two years ago are just two of cars that we have driven when on holiday. It is sad but we now expect things like being able to listen to music other than that on a CD or on the radio and are disappointed when there is no USB port in car or jack to allow us to listen to music using our iPhone.  I am not sure if that is because we have a Lancia but this car has not lived up to the standards of our previous hire cars.

Anyway we have visited one old haunt, this being a restaurant that we used to visit when here in the past, BC or Before Children. Ristorante Il Cipresso in Loro Ciuffenna.  We had been here in 2002 and 2003 and the food and service was as good as we remembered.  It was a nice touch that the man who served us said he remembered us, but that might have just been patter.  We did not get to show the kids the rest of the town properly as it was shut, this being Sunday afternoon but it was nice to return to an old haunt.

Now we are in our villa, Santa Chiara, a self catering apartment in Umbria. We have had a very warm welcome and the food which we had arranged in advance was great. I am now to put the lasagna away as it was great and we may have some more tomorrow. Anyway goodnight all!