How Many Broads Does It Take To Find A Villa?

All of them, but first you have to get the rental cars.  The lines were long, and about 90 minutes later we managed to get our rental cars.  We were even given a free upgrade or as the rental car guy would say, "Your free upgrade is free."  We'll take it!  Off to find our Volvo v60's.  One in black and one in graphite.  You have to love that...

For those of you who do not know, Cheryl is about 5'10" tall.  The rental car was set up for someone about 5'1" tall.  It was quite a comedy to watch her attempt to get into the car.  That was quickly followed by not knowing how to start the car as we only had a key fob, not an actual key.  She found the slot for the fob, hit the start button and nothing.  I may have mentioned to put your foot on the brake and hit the start button.  SUCCESS!  Put the car in drive.  Nothing.  Argh!  Parking brake is on.  After a minute or two we were successful in releasing the brake.  Finally!  We can get the car loaded and be on our way.

After all of our joking about the size of the luggage we could bring, it is a dang good thing we didn't have anything more and that we had two vehicles as nothing else would have fit as you can see by the back of just one of our cars.

We mistakenly believed that getting out of Rome would be the toughest part, we were wrong.  It may have been stressful to get out of the airport and Rome, but we had no clue what was waiting for us up ahead.

So off we went with 4 girls in each vehicle.  The lead car held Cheryl, Mary, Kim, and me. The second car held Dana, Bibby, Diane, and Joann.  Cheryl was the driver and I was the navigator.  For all of my friends and family who know me really well, they all know I would not be the best person to navigate. I have absolutely no sense of direction.  This is definitely a gene directly given to me by my mom. Dana was at the wheel of the second car.  Bibby and I were also manning the walkie-talkies.  I have to say, the walkie talkies were a great idea.

We managed to find our way to the A1 and headed north towards Firenze.  Our first stop and our first meal in Italy was at one of the numerous Autogrille's along the A1.  The food was good, even at the Autogrille, go figure. At this point Bibby took over the driving responsibilites for the second car.  I think that was due to the fact that Cheryl was practicing "how to drive like an Italian" and Dana was tired.

We headed back out onto the A1 and after a while, we started to wonder why we hadn't gotten to our exit yet.  So we stopped off at a gas station to attempt to get directions from the cashier.  Basically we understood that we were headed in the right direction and should look for Exit 2.  That is great, except the exits aren't numbered.  We went about another 20 minutes or so and pulled off at yet another Autogrille where Cheryl jumped out and talked to a couple of guys in the parking lot.  One of the spoke some English which definitely helped the situation.  Again we were assured we were headed the right direction.  So back onto the A1 and imagine that, we found the exit!

At this point we were late for our check-in time at the villa, so we jumped on one of the cell phones and called to tell them we were going to be late.  I told her where we approximately were, and she assured me that we would be there in the next 40-60 minutes.  I can't even begin to tell you how much stress that took off of all of us. We had very detailed instructions, thankfully, for all of the twists and turns it took to finally get to the unpaved road, yes that is what the road is called, unpaved road.

During this whole adventure driving, the drivers definitely had to stay focused, but I must say it was very hard as it is incredibly beautiful here.  I have been to more than my fair share of beautiful tropical islands across the world, but Italy may be the most beautiful place I have ever visited.

Here are a few pics from the view while we were at the reception office.

This is a picture of our villa that was taken looking down at it from the reception area.

We are eight very grateful women.  God has blessed us beyond measure and we all thank him.

Caio for now!