Tuscany in a day….

I used Florence as my base (room) and I had prebooked 2 tour groups for 2 days…My first tour was to be Cinque Terre…a beautiful coastal group of villages in Tuscany. 2nd day was the main towns of Tuscany…Siena, Pisa, and San Gimangeo.
So today, the plan was Cinque terre. My preprinted ticket stated that the meeting point was inside central train station at 7am. I got to station at 6:15…did not see anyone, I asked no one knew. At 6:50 I found small group that had sign for my destination. The girl looked at my ticket a little strange and told me to get in group…after about 10 min. another girl came ip and asked to see ticket….she called someone else then told me, I was not on her list. My travel app/agent must be going thru different group….she gave me another name….I go searching, at the same time I hear a guy asking about cinque terre group, he was told se thing….he goes running around bus to bus ….said we could take cab and split it… (does he know the trip is almost 2.5 hours? I dont think so….) He sisappeared running to more buses…
I found the next group that I was told about…and got in line….when I handed her my ticket…she started to mark me off, only to not find my name on the list…..finally I started calling customer service of travel app/agent….no answer, too early…I emailed them and told of my situation and where I was told to meet…miraculously I received a copy of my itenerary that had meeting place as burger king…and had a local phone number….hmmmm. I called and was told I missed it. (Duh, it was 8:10) she told me to come to Burger King and we would work out something. When I got there she seen my ticket and agreed it was incorrect. …but we worked out that I would go to Cinque terre the next day…and go on a similar tour toda of Tuscany towns, but would not include, Pisa….very unfortunate..but I agreed.
I boarded the bus and met a very nice lady named June. Thats 1 good thing about day tour groups you get to meet people (besides with schools this is my first).another good this is no gps, map, or planning.
We took a tour of maggiore castel and viewed the walled village. Very nice…the whole time on bus they were saying stuff over the mikes….4 different languages. …for all the different tourist….next we arrived in Sienna…beautiful walled city, very medieval and cool…one thing I dont like about tour groups, is its herding sheep, unfortunately Im a cat….its hard to herd a cat….
Anyway, we all know my adhd and taking pics is going overboard….the tour guide told us to meet back in Piazza (square ) at certain time…
June and I went off exploring, and from our understanding we were to grab lunch..sounded good to me!
When it was time to go back, we went to the square and waited, and waited, and waited. We were in wrong square….now trying to find a certain place in these little towns is hilarious. …they all run together…we walk forever and still cant find it…then it starts raining, raining hard, we are running from street ro street…I called the tour company and they told me the leader of our group had called and they went on to a restaurant and will meet there….so we go looking for the restaurant. ..nope, that wasnt happening either …I asked several people, but no one understands my fluent Italian speach; (ha) I called the tour lady back and she was trying to pronounce the name slowly.. I just couldnt do it…so there was a gentleman standing nearby we were trying ask where the restaurant was….finally I told woman on other end of phone to tell him…I handed him the phone….so when he gets off….he gave us the directions. ..yeah,that worked….20 minutes later tour woman called…I told her we couldnt find it..She said our group had left and going to San Gimagiano…she stated June and I would need get taxi there….she said I will call you back with address to meet.
June and I jumped into closest taxi, dripping wet, I handed the phone with the tour lady on the other end to the taxi driver…off we go…pouring rain, in a taxi going at an ungodly speed, in streets the size of a driveway….then my phone rings….tour lady needs taxi driver again….I handed the phone and told him it was for him….after a minute or so…I got my phone back and he turns the taxi around…He said there were 2 more that got left….hmmmmm….more cats….
Again flying like bat out of ..wherever…we are on the go again…..of course this whole time we are watching the meter go up up up…. Then my phone rings…tour lady to taxi…all of a sudden he cuts off meter and we keep going…we arrived at the chianti wine tasting instead of San Gimagiano. We arrived wet and there were no seats left…oh well…obviously the tour company took care of the taxi since there were 4 people that got left….
After wine tastings we went to San Gimagiano. …loved it, all castle like…Next it was back to Florence. …whew…8:30 pm..exhausted, ready for bed….it took my 10 minute walk to the room 1.5 hours…I got lost so many times…I asked a host of outdoor restaurant directions to my street….I still passed him 3 more times!

Author: kimmiestravelsblog

A special eduacation teacher....degree in police science, criminal justice, worked in call centers, as behavioral health counselor, foster care manager, worked in restaurants, factories, and many other things..for fun I refinish and refurbish furniture, remodel my house, arts and crafts, beauty pageant work, medieval reenactment, gardening, writing, traveling, movies, reading, beach combing, music concerts, photography......As you are probably seeing by this introduction, I am a little ADHD...I am the one who jumps from one thing of interest to another.....but the way I see it, that is what makes life interesting. View all posts by kimmiestravelsblog