Our two nights in Rome were at the Grand Olympic Hotel. We hated that the hotel was being renovated and weren’t impressed with the renovated room, but we loved the breakfast buffet and, for us, the price was right. 4 out of 10.

After breakfast I had to find my way to the Budget rental car office by bus. This was difficult because the Rome buses don’t accept cash. So I had to figure out how to buy a ticket online. I purchased a pair of tickets for 7 euros, downloaded the necessary app and loaded the tickets into the app. However, I could not figure out how to actually get the ticket for use on the bus so, after walking 10 minutes to the bus/subway station, I had to find someone to explain it to me. I finally figured out how to activate it just as the bus arrived. But once on board I still couldn’t figure out what to do with it. The bus has machines for, I think, scanning the QR code on the ticket but I couldn’t figure out how to scan mine. Oh, well. I figured if anyone challenged me I could at least prove that I held a valid ticket. And, while riding on the bus, I saw NO ONE actually scan anything using those machines. I think the system trusts that riders have tickets and maybe they are checked only occasionally. Don’t know. What I know is that I got to the rental car office exactly when I planned: 9am.

After the usual paperwork I was handed the keys to a Suzuki. I have never driven a Suzuki, but there didn’t seem to be anything tricky about it other than the engine stopped whenever the car stopped and automatically restarted when the foot came off the brake. Never had a car that did that but I am sure I will get used to it.

I found my way back to the hotel and collected both the luggage and Marlene. Then we set the GPS for Pisa and departed. We had some difficulty getting out of Rome – not because of traffic but because the GPS instructions were often confusing. We passed one point not far from the hotel 3 times before we figured out where to go.

We took toll roads to Pisa – almost 4 hours from Rome. They were expensive (over $25 total) but were necessary as we hoped to get to Genoa by evening (5.5 hours on toll roads, over 9 hours on non-toll roads).

As we neared Pisa we – and all other cars on the road – were stopped by police. They were waiting for something or someone to pass by. I thought it might be a presidential motorcade. Nope. It was a caravan of about 12 buses filled with screaming yahoos. I think they were fans headed to a soccer match. I have no idea why it was necessary to stop traffic for them.

We found a no-cost parking spot not far from the Leaning Tower of Pisa – no small feat in a town crawling with tourists – and walked there, weaving through dozens of souvenir vendors. My first thought when passing through the wall into the compound where the tower is located: what are all those OTHER buildings. I had the impression that the tower stood alone but that is not the case; it is one of about 6 large and very impressive buildings in a walled compound.

We had not booked a hotel in Genoa so we grabbed a cup of coffee (and a bio break) at the McDonald’s outside the wall and discussed our options. We decided to go next to Cinque Terre – a seaside town that was recommended and consider staying there if we could find a place or, more likely, move on another 90 minutes to Genoa.

I was under the impression that Cinque Terre was a town we could drive through on our way to Genoa, but I was mistaken. Cinque Terre is accessible by one very narrow, winding, scary road – about 30 minutes from the expressway. We were able to get there at dusk. It is a pretty town, but it is basically a beach town. Probably one of very few beaches on this rugged stretch of Italian coast.

We were there for a very colorful sunset.

We had no interest in traversing the rather scary Cinque Terre road in the dark so we scooted before night fell. We got to Genoa around 9pm, still with no hotel reservation. We found a parking spot in central Genoa and started surfing the web. It was a frustrating experience. Marlene and I found the same hotels, but with different prices. And it was difficult determining which had free parking, free WiFi, refrigerators in the room, a microwave and a low price – all things which we deemed important. After getting very frustrated I settled on a Best Western for about $150 – more than I wanted to spend (I wanted to average under $100 on this trip) – but available and not far. It was getting late.

I vowed to never again wait until the last minute to book lodgings.

The frustrations weren’t done because once we got there we couldn’t figure out where to park. I had to go inside and ask. Fortunately the night clerk spoke English and explained it well – we had to take the car to an underground garage. We did that but as we were entering the hotel we encountered a sign that the parking was 20 euros per night – another $25! It appeared that I would be paying $175 for the one night in Genoa. But the hotel – perhaps sensing my frustration – gave me free parking.

A long day of driving and sightseeing on top of the massive amount of walking the previous day. We slept well.