Up with sparrows this morning and packed up to get to the airport to start the trip home but not before we found that the kettle in the apartment had for some unknown reason sucked the kūmara while resting overnight.
As luck would have it we had a kettle of our own so not only were we able to have a brew but we were able to find a new home for ours.
The drive to the airport and return of the car was uneventful with the low fuel light coming on around 5kms from the car return site which suggests we had not overspent on the diesel!
The car folk drove us back to Terminal 3 and it wasn’t too long before we had checked in our bags and were in the lounge to get morning tea, the selection in the lounge being very poor.
With some time to kill we had a walk around the retail and duty free outlets, not unsurprisingly there were most, if not all, of the high end Italian fashion outlets available e.g. Hermes, D&G, Prada and this made me wonder with the majority of flyers being “ordinary” or not necessarily high worth individuals how successful their businesses are in these high cost locations.
Our plane ✈️ left on time and as I post this blog we are 6 hours into our 12 hour flight.
Not tooting my own horn but quite pleased with how our estimates for diesel, tolls and mileage actually worked out and the kilometres driven would have been even closer had it not been for that afternoon in the Black Forest two months or so ago where we spent quite a few hours driving around in circles 🚘🚘
We have commented negatively quite a few times on the Italian personality, particularly when behind the wheel, but we have spoken to quite a few who have either been very helpful or very engaging none more so than the waiter in the restaurant we went to last night.
He, we didn’t get to exchange names, served us when we went there on our first night in Rome (I referred to him in an earlier blog as a comedian) and in that visit he took an interest in where we were from, how long we would be in Rome etc.
When we walked in the door last night he thanked us for returning to the restaurant on our last day (good memory) and after we had dined he spent sometime chatting to us & also commented on NZ (good memory).
He had been a waiter all his working life, he now is 60, he works from noon to midnight, rides to and from work on a scooter (“I go slow as everyone else is on the run”), sleeps from around 2am for about 3-4 hours and then starts his new day - he told us on our first visit he was at the restaurant every day other than Christmas Day but on reflection he may have meant the restaurant was open those days.
When we were speaking about family we asked whether he and his wife, who though not working now due to sickness was also a waitress, had any children and his delightful reply was “No, they didn’t want us”.
As we left he was taking orders from a table on the terrace but he didn’t hesitate to excuse himself from them and come across to us, thank us for coming, wishing us a safe trip home and we departed with a handshake - a delightful individual, one of many who made our holiday that much more enjoyable.
Kms driven 5423 (estimate before trip 5200)
Kms walked to date 719.1
Spent on Diesel €340.53 (estimate before trip €479)
Highest price paid for diesel €1.84/L Matera
Lowest price paid for diesel €1.479/L Freiburg
Spent on tolls €118.40 (estimate before trip €103.00)
No comments:
Post a Comment