Kicking Myself for Days!

Well they say it is not an adventure unless something goes wrong.  I turned in my rental car near Venice and took the train to this well-known ceramic town near Bologna. I had wanted to visit Faenza for several years since I bought some unique Italian plates with a design only known in this area. 

When I arrived and walked from the train station to my hotel, I was surprised to see so few people out and about.  It was a hot Sunday, so I checked in and soon went out to see what the town had to offer. Not much!  A huge square with a few people riding bikes near few open bars and quick food places.  It seemed like a migrant town judging from those I saw who were obviously non-Italian.  It is near Bologna, so it could be a cheaper place to live.

 The next day, there were more people out and about and nice shops were open.  I visited several and decided with shipping, buying here was not a bargain.  I did buy one special item.

I was fascinated with all the bike riding going on – few people walked and no cars.  I thought Fairhope could benefit from larger bike-only lanes after seeing young and old riding.  After spending some time visiting a large ceramic museum that showed the early beginning of ceramics through today in Italy and walking around, I was bored to tears with this town.  My hotel was the nicest in town, which was not saying much.  It was a 4 star but did not serve lunch or dinner in the restaurant two of the 4 days I was there due to summer I guess.  I decided to travel to Bologna the next day.

In the middle of the night I woke up and thought “I have not seen my wallet for a few days”.  I immediately got up, turned on lights and looked everywhere for it.  I had been using a smaller, lighter, cross body leather pouch purse for a few days and not using my larger purse that had the wallet in it.  It was nowhere to be found and I could not even remember when or where I last had it (age setting in).  It was also a very nice woven Italian wallet I had used for 14 years and a favorite.

After a very restless night, I was really worried.  My driver’s license was in that wallet along with my health cards.  I had planned to rent a car in Umbria in a few days and that would be a huge problem! I also needed a car when returning from the airport/train to Aviano after this trip south.

 Thankfully, my credit cards and passport were in another location. I visited Bologna to try to relieve my stress and kicking myself all day for not thinking.  When I returned, I emailed every place I had been while trying to remember when I last saw it.  I think I had it in the car at one point – but never could remember more than that. One by one the emails came back with no good news.  I could not reach the Venice airport and my car rental place despite trying many numbers and getting nowhere.  I was bummed for at least two + days with the worry of it.  

I did immediately order a duplicate and received a temporary DL online.  Unfortunately, everything I read said you had to have the actual card in hand to rent a car! I had copies of my original on my phone – but it did not do me any good.  Note to self: in future – get a duplicate well before you leave and put them in two different places or have a checklist you look at of important documents every day or so!

I had looked forward to seeing friends that live in Fairhope and Umbria during each year for a couple of days.  I was renting a car to get to their area that did not have public transportation. Frankly, I was not in good enough spirits to visit Umbria after my visit to Rome in a few days. Renting a car to get there was impossible without a license, and I did not want to put them to any trouble knowing they would go out of their way to help and entertain me. Unfortunately, it was time for plan B.

My dishes

Ceramic Museum pics

My next stop before Umbria was to be a brief day or two in Rome where I was scheduled to have dinner with an Italian professional colleague.  With regrets,  I decided to forgo Umbria, give myself a needed break and attitude adjustment with two extra days in larger Rome where transportation, lodging, and dining was much easier. It was a needed decision during a stressful time.

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