Happy Thanksgiving from Italy to my fellow Americans. This was my view this morning as I woke up on one of my favorite holidays.
It feels a little bizarre not to be in colder weather and in a landlocked state with the leaves falling off the trees on this special day. Don’t get me wrong, I’m enjoying the Amalfi Coast and this road trip throughout Italy with my father but I still woke up with a little sadness not celebrating the holiday in the traditional style. I mustn’t dwell since there truly is so much to be thankful for…including you, the reader.
My dad and I visited so many beautiful places on this adventure. We’ve been to Assisi and did a drive-by of Saint Francis Basilica to see it at night in all its radiance.
We drove six hours in the rain through gorgeous hills and winding roads to reach Sorrento. The landscape was stunning. The leaves have turned their beautiful yellows, oranges, and reds for fall. We even saw a couple of rainbows along the way when the rain ceased and the sun peaked through the clouds and fog.
We are making so many memories that I will cherish for the rest of my life. Like this one (I have my dad’s permission to tell this story and to slightly make fun of him)…
This road trip is free-flowing. We don’t choose the next town until we wake up and discuss it at breakfast. Therefore, I don’t make hotel reservations until the day of. Usually, once we confirm our next destination, I’ll hop on booking.com, put in my preferences (free on-site parking is a must and an included breakfast is always a plus), and read a few online reviews that I cross-level with Google reviews and book a place that fits what we are looking for. We stayed at a fantastic Bed & Breakfast, B&B Cantico delle Creature, just outside of Assisi in the hills. The views were breathtaking. On-site parking and breakfast were included. We are off to a good start.
The next morning in Assisi we decided on Sorrento for our next destination. We’ve been eager to get to the Sout,h and warmer weather. So at breakfast I looked up a few places and found a modern-looking (gorgeous) hotel in the hills overlooking the city (with private onsite parking and breakfast – we are two for two), Maison Bon Bon.
The place had outstanding reviews, however, one short blurb stood out to me. One of the previous guests wrote that there is no 24-hour reception on-site. This is not unusual as most establishments are run by families and they go home at night. But this little one-liner caught my eye, “The facility has no SOS number…one couple left their room key and couldn’t re-enter the facility.” (The room key also opens the driveway gate at the bottom of the hill.) I made a mental note of this little tidbit and later when we were checking in, I almost asked Francesca, the lovely young woman who processed our reservation, for two keys but I decided I was probably just being paranoid. I did however mention it to my dad and said, “make sure we don’t lose this key, the staff is hard to reach after hours.”
We were shown to the room with two cute little twin beds and I let go of my anxiety about losing the key.
I should also mention there was a HUGE thunderstorm happening outside during all of this. We didn’t arrive until after dark at 6 pm so I asked for the closest restaurant since it was pouring rain and the hills are difficult enough to drive during the day but wet pavement at night is another level. Plus, getting in and out of this place with its narrow uphill driveway is difficult as well. Francesca recommended the place next door (which online reviewers also highly recommended). We grabbed the room key, hustled to the car, and got soaked on the way because we forgot the umbrella in the car when we came in the first time (there was a break in the rain). We drove down the steep driveway, around the corner, and up another steep driveway to the restaurant. Due to the storm, they had zero guests and were about to close but said they would serve us. They were beyond kind about it because you could tell the staff wanted to go home. We had a fantastic meal, my dad had swordfish and I had pork with mushrooms. We finished up, paid the bill, and said “grazie e buona notte” as they turned out the lights. We got soaked going back to the car (yes, even with an umbrella), drove down the steep hill, and around the corner to the entrance of the hotel. I had to jump out of the car in the rain to use the key to open the gate, and the 27 seconds I was outside it HAILED. It hailed actual little round balls of ice just for the length of time I was outside without the umbrella. Are you kidding me? This apparently never happens because I looked it up online and there is no mention of hail in this region, ever. I even asked a local shopkeeper, Francesco, about it because it seemed so odd. In his thick Italian accent he said “maybe, once, twice every five to ten years.” Good gravy, people.
Anyhoo, we drove up the driveway and I got as close to the door as possible so my dad wouldn’t have far to walk. It’s now 8:30 pm and I haven’t even brought in the luggage.
It was becoming the perfect storm of catastrophes.
Here is how this plays out. I get the umbrella and ran around to the passenger side to get my dad out and walk with him to the elevator door that is facing outside. He gets inside, I say, “wait here, I’ll bring you the bags.” I got the bags, gave him the room key, and told him, “you ride up the one floor to our level and I’ll park the car” (which requires me to drive backwards down a steep section of the driveway, in the rain, with barely any light, a manual transmission, and no backup camera…we are going old school, folks). I park the car, run up the one flight of metal stairs to our floor and see my dad in the hallway. I grab my backpack and ask for the key. I see him checking all his pockets. My stomach drops. I have this awful feeling that I know what has happened to the key.
I’m hyper-focused on noticing my surroundings. My older sister is physically disabled so growing up I was always watching out for uneven pavement, stairs, heavy doors, anything that would cause difficulties for her…now with my dad’s leg not working so well, I do the same thing. So our first time getting on and off the elevator I made a joke “mind the gap!” about the big space between the elevator and the floor.
My mind and gut immediately said, “go look for the key in the elevator.” As I pushed the button I said a little prayer that it would be on the black floor but as my pounding heart knew, it wasn’t. So I rode the elevator back down to the ground floor which opened out into the pouring rain. I turned on the spotlight on my phone, got down on my hands and knees in the water, and screamed “f&$k me!” (I don’t want that vibe going out into the universe so I always direct it back at myself) so loud that the other guests came out to see what was the matter. I had found the key.
It had fallen out of his pocket and slipped between the gap to the bottom of the elevator shaft. Seriously. I tried with no success to stick my arm in the tight space and get it out. Universe, you must be joking. What are the odds? One of my cousins was attacked by a grizzly bear in the wilderness and lived to tell about it. I thought that situation had the rarest odds in the world but this is a very close second.
I immediately called Luca, the inventor, for an idea but he just started laughing and said, “you’re American, get some chewing gum and put it on the bottom of your dad’s walking stick.” Ummm, I am very much American but I don’t have any chewing gum thank you very much. I needed a different idea. I’m now soaking wet and about to cry, that is if I wasn’t laughing so hard at this entire scenario that I seemingly manifested with my thoughts from some dumb online review! I was honestly a little panicked because of that review, I didn’t want the two of us to have to spend the night sleeping in the bucket seats of a Fiat 500 (it’s a Grande, but still…) and then I remembered that Francesca had texted me on WhatsApp earlier in the day to ask about our arrival time. I called the number and she answered! She said she would be right over but it would be 15 minutes or so. Holy smokes…no sleeping in the car for us! Crisis averted.
Apparently, a few of the other guests had been trying to contact her unsuccessfully so now she had a line of people waiting to greet her.
As a thank you, I promised Francesca I would leave a glowing review about her service and the hotel.
All in all, we are having a great time traveling around Italy, with just a few minor hiccups, but I won’t let my dad hold the keys (to the room or the car) anymore.
Below are a few photos of the gorgeous scenery we’ve viewed along our travels through Sorrento and along the Amalfi Coast.
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you. I am so thankful to you for your support of my writing. Thank you.
Goodnight and much love from Italy! 🇮🇹
