Getting to Umbertide

Saturday was our departure from Rome. I had booked a rental car to pick up at Termini, with worries about the drive from there to our apartment, and the parking when we loaded the luggage. The previous night, we saw the Baci da Roma owner at the restaurant; she said it could work out, including getting the complex's garage opened. In the morning I found the doorman, who said it could be done when I got back with the car.

I took the Roma-Giardinetti train to Termini, went to the Hertz counter, and there was a line. It took time to get to the front, I got the paperwork done, and was sent with keys to the garage down the street where I was to get a garage exit ticket at the ground floor office and take the elevator to the 7th floor to get the car, a VW Golf. I did that, I had my GPS good for Italy on me, but the battery had no charge and I'd left the charger at the apartment. I'd studied the route pretty well and made it without mistakes, just impatient drivers behind me and the harrowing changes of lane needed around Porta Maggiore. I found parking in the median; that was enough for me to find Margaret in the apartment and get the bags down.

I plugged the GPS in and followed directions. The route I'd studied had us going out on the A24; the GPS had me take the Tangenziale/Via Olimpica to Via Salaria to get to the G.R.A. and A1. We had a smooth ride to the Orte exit; with the later start than planned, it was time to stop for lunch. I exited at Narni Scalo, where there was a ride to take before we got to the town (the Scalo in the valley, not the hill town) and had a self-service selection at the Paprika bar-restaurant. Then it was a smooth enough ride to Umbertide.

The keys that I brought worked. We settled in, but the wi-fi wasn't working. We went out to market and had our walks around town. When I wanted to put the car into long-term parking, I found that most of that space had been taken by a new park relating to the walk along the Reggia stream, which had basically been a drainage ditch and was now prettied up:

Sunday and Monday we settled into town, seeing old friends, and getting prompt service for an unmentionable plumbing problem and the wi-fi connection. We're looking for a nice slow stay here.