On our way to another adventure in Lucca, Italy, we had the funniest thing happen….so I had to share our story….
The Bread We Learned to Bake at Cooking School
We awoke early, had breakfast at our hotel, and then went to catch the local bus to our cooking class at the International Academy of Italian Cuisine with Chef Gianluca Pardini just outside the walls of Lucca.
So, off we go – the #10 bus arrives, we try to buy our tickets – but the driver has no change for $20 euro…so, he gestures for me to go to the tabacchi just around the corner. Now, if this had been in the USA, the bus driver would have closed those doors so fast our heads would still be spinning…but not in Italy – the driver actually WAITS for me to sprint to the tabacchi, buy round trip bus tickets, sprint back to the bus, and off we go! With no complaints from our fellow passengers…
How funny is that? I felt like such the tourist…..but more about our cooking class later…
Our Kitchen Inventions 
Your story made me laugh & reminded me of our first “adventure” on the train from Rome to Florence. We bought 2 tickets, boarded, sat & thought we were fine until people came on to ask us to move. Ok, so we moved to 2 vacant seats, only to get asked to move yet again. Obviously we were slow on the uptake & hadn’t figured out the color coding of the cars & seat assignments until a very patient woman explained with a lot of pointing at her butt, her seat, our tickets, the signs, & finally shoo’ing us over to our assigned seats where we settled down for a pleasant ride.
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You have to love the Italian way of “explaining” when they / you don’t speak the language. And you are so right – it always involves hands, pointing, noises, etc. that USUALLY end up in mutual agreement of something..just not always sure of what you just agreed to 🙂
It is amazing how patient they are with us tourists!!
Susan
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You were lucky to get a bus driver who was so patient. Some of them just grumble at you if you don’t have the correct ticket. Mind you, at home in Brisbane they wouldn’t let you on at all without a ticket.
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I really did feel like such a tourist in our “second” home of Lucca…every trip brings new opportunities to learn – and laugh!
Susan
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i love these stories…love you guys and miss you! its cold in Iowa.
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So glad to hear from you – hate to say it, but it’s 63 degrees today in the ATL…miss you guys, too. Nice to know that you are keeping “in touch” so far away!!
Susan
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