I’ve officially left Porto San Giorgio behind.  I arrived in Empoli yesterday via a just over 3-hour drive. It was a really nice drive – turned up the tunes, opened the windows and I was off!

However leading up to that, I was totally mad at myself. Mad because I haven’t fully acclimated to the Italian “eh, it’ll still be there when I show up” attitude. The night before I left, Rosanna asked if I could get the car at 1:30pm instead of 12pm because of our departure time from PSG. So, I made the changes online. Which cost me an extra $50 and no guarantee of a GPS system. I had to change car companies within the online booking system and that company was more money. Had I arrived to pick up the car at 1:30pm, I would have been a bit more OK with the extra $50. However, I was at the car pick-up at my originally scheduled time of 12pm because plans got changed back again. I was so annoyed!! But thankfully they did have a GPS system so I guess it didn’t all turn out bad.

Keep in mind this is after Rosanna said she in fact couldn't take the 10 min train ride with me to meet the aunt and uncle that were driving me to Ancona to pick up the car. So I had to lug every suitcase I brought to the train station in PSG (thankfully there were helpful hands to help me get everything on and off when needed) and head to Civitanova. The uncle met me on the platform so I was able to avoid a bit more lugging. This just added to the whole atmosphere for me. I could't wait to get in that damn rental car! 

I got mad at myself again when I realized I forgot to take a picture of the car when I was heading back to the house. Here’s what it looked like though…..

After I settled into the apartment, Eugenia (Giuseppe’s sister) invited me to have dinner with her and her family. Which was so nice of them! It was great to have a full conversation again. Of course, the prosecco was also very much welcomed! :)

I’m just in town for a day before I leave very early tomorrow morning for Barcelona. Off to see Bruuuuuuce! But I’m looking forward to wandering Empoli more next week during the last of my days in Italy.

Helpful tip: While completely lost in a new and unfamiliar town while running, just follow the train tracks back to something a bit more familiar! Thankfully I followed them in the right direction. :)