Saturday, June 9, 2007

Our Bus Driver Marco

I also want to mention our bus driver, Marco, who in addition to Elena, is with us for the entire trip. He is a master at driving the bus through the crowded streets of Rome, getting us into and out of extremely tight parking areas. After our first game, he had to back out of the parking area and through a gate a tiny bit wider than the width of the bus and with cars parked on both sides of him. On our way to our second game in Florence, he had to maneuver through a tight gate again and around several cars. We all got off the bus and wondered how we were going to get out after the game because we had pulled into a small parking area with a building on our left and the road (with a retaining wall) on our right. While the girls were playing, he was busy turning the bus around and by halftime he had it facing out. In Montecatini, he also had to drive the bus through an alley with buildings on both sides. I am amazed at the places he has taken the bus. He has also been a huge help with loading and unloading all or our luggage. When we arrived at the hotel on Tuesday afternoon, he had the entire bus cleared out and the luggage neatly placed on the street next to the bus before we were all even off.

Our bus is also typical to those we would travel on in the U.S., with the biggest difference being the location of the bathroom. Instead of being situated at the rear of the bus and on the same level as the seating area, the bathroom is in the middle of the bus, about seven rows back from the front, and down 6-7 stairs (so it is on the same level as the luggage area below the bus).

Each time we enter a new city, the bus also has to stop at the city limits to pay a tour bus fee. We did not do this for Rome because Marco and Elena had paid the fee prior to picking us up at the airport, but we have had to pay it in both Montecatini and Florence. The fee in Montecatini was just 40 euro, in comparison to the 160 euro paid by the bus to visit Florence.

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