I bet you think that because I haven’t written about any funny tragedies lately that all is well and running smoothly. Ha! It’s just so commonplace that it has become a regular part of the experience. Let me catch you up a little.
We took the night train to Venice, and we were thrilled to find out that we would have the compartment to ourselves. The seats didn’t recline, but we could live with that. We got settled in and went to turn off the lights. Only one of the two overhead florescent lights would turn off. Where was the other switch? Was it broken? Ask the conductor when he comes along to punch our tickets. He flips the switch we already flipped… repeatedly. Gives us a shrug and a look that said” Huh. Guess it’s broken. Oh well.” Oh well??? You know what this meant for us…the only compartment on the train with the lights on. May as well have had a sign that said “Look in our compartment and watch us sleep as you pass by on your way to smoke illegally in the toilets”. Good times. Of course the ticket check, three border crossing passport checks, and other miscellaneous interruptions didn’t leave much time for sleep anyway.
We needed to stop by the grocery store today and decided to park in the underground parking instead of using the free parking ½ mile or so up the street. We used the free parking all along but decided to treat ourselves after a day full of walking. Tom waited in the car while I ran into the store. When I came out he handed me the parking ticket and a handful of coins to pay at the self pay machine. I put in the ticket and it said I owed 1 euro. Put in the Euro coin and it was rejected. Tried again, and again. A crowd started to build and a man helpfully said “1 euro” I showed him I was putting in a 1 euro coin. He said “Upstairs”. I let him go ahead of me while I dug around in my purse looking for another euro coin to try. Ah! Success! I found one and put it in the machine. Rejected. Again and again. Another person from the crowd helpfully suggested “upstairs” OK, I get the point. Go upstairs and get some other change. Upstairs I found a little store where the lady kindly gave me two 1 euro coins for my 2 euro coin. Back downstairs. Put one in the machine. Rejected. Again and again. Tried the other (remember now, this is the fourth coin). Rejected. I hit the machine. I also yelled at it. It still didn’t take my coins. I had the answer. Make Tom deal with it. I sat in the car and HEARD the coin get rejected. Well, at least the machine didn’t hate just me. As a helpful crowd built up behind him, he tried and tried. The song “crashed the gate doing 98...” ran through my head. Finally a lady in line took the coin from Tom, put it in the machine and guess what? It took it. Then she told Tom that usually you need a TOKEN….. From UPSTAIRS to pay. You know, the machine said “1 euro” not “1 token”. Of course it does explain the bowl of tokens at each grocery store cashier’s station that I noticed the first time we shopped there.
Speaking of the first time we shopped there…
We were wandering the grocery store (see we don’t just wander outside!) looking for interesting things to eat. I spotted these grainy, healthy looking crackers and decided crackers, fruit and brie would be a great lunch one day. I bought them and theyat was lunch yesterday. The crackers lived up to the picture on the package. Whole grain, crunchy, and very tasty, although a bit sweet. They went well with the brie though.
Today when I ran into the store (and we paid to park!) I walked down the aisle where I had picked up those crackers. I flirted with the idea of buying another package, even though we really didn’t need them at this point. Then I noticed something funny. All of the surrounding products seemed to be….cookies. Yup. The crackers were across the aisle. We ate brie, fruit, and cookies for lunch. Well, you know what they say about eating dessert first. Hey! They were whole grain too!
Almost the entire trip Tom has been drinking tap water. Because of my immune system issues, I have chosen to stick with bottled, just in case. No Montezuma’s Revenge for me. We received a gift bag at our apartment in Venice which included a bag of biscotti, and two bottles of water. I finally cracked mine open the other day and drank it all. Then I read the label. Mineral water. The minerals in this water may have a diuretic effect. Bummer.
During our wander after dinner the other night, we dove into a cardboard recycling bin and grabbed two wine boxes. We have aquired a few things that we need to pack for home. The boxes have been taking up space in our room for a few days waiting to be packed. Tonight I thought about packing them up until Tom helpfully pointed out that the maid had taken them away today.
The good news is I only set off the museum alarm once today while getting too close to the art.
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