Genzano Try 2 - Saturday

In our previous episode, yesterday was a walking marathon to and from Genzano. I wanted to show L the big city, at least the bigger city. I had paid attention to the buses coming in and out of town, so she could go with me without the two hour walk. So we went to the tobacco shop and got tickets for E1 (the tobacco shop has tickets in addition to stamps and I guess tobacco is in there though vending machines seem to supply a lot of that). We went to the bus stop by the Blockbuster Video. The buses don't usually announce the stops as they come. It's sometimes hard to tell one villa or square or fountation from the other, so something like a big tacky blue and yellow sign can be helpful as a landmark. Anyway, we waited dutifully at the stop for the CE bus. And waited. From the sign, it seemed like it ran that day and that time. We gave up after half an hour and started walking. So it was a long trek, but L got to see the beautiful bridges and churches in Arrici on the way. We went to the supermarket and "dollar" store. We tried to find some cargo shorts to replace my torn ones. (How were they torn? Street fighting in my sleep? When something goes down on the street, I'm not leaving until it's done). Or at least a thread and needle. No luck. I know CVS would have something like that, but the pharmacies here are not that comprehensive.

We started noticing a lot of Cotral buses running, so we took one of those back home. These are more like charter buses instead of city buses. We discovered they went to Rome also, a little cheaper and more frequently than the train. On the way back to the bus stop, I made one last ditch try to find a wireless signal. An hour later I found an Internet cafe and a wireless signal in front of an apartment at a side street off the top of a steep hill. I posted my last blog entry sitting on a flower planter beside the apartment. The laptop battery lasts less than three minutes, but my pocket PC lasts much longer but has a very small screen and slow data entry. But it works and is easy to carry. At some point an old lady came out of the building and sat a few feet away from me. It's not that uncommon for people to sit out in front of their homes, but it was a little strange. She was looking toward me but didn't say anything. I just ignored her for a while and then left with an Arrivederci. L made a reservation for a hotel in Florence. It was just $4 an hour for Internet access, but that's still hard to take when we pay $1.50 a day at home.

-D