Cafe Hopping

I’ve had a ton of work to do this first week, so I’ve spent a lot of time in cafes using — or trying to use — wifi. One place said, Yes, we have wifi. So I settled in with my third cappuccino of the day only to find that the password she had was not the right one. So I finished that coffee and moved on. Next place did have it, but only the smallest table and congested area to sit. It worked for a while. Then to go to the bathroom, I need to take everything valuable with me, which is a total pain in the neck. Sometimes I don’t… depending on how well I know the town.

I’m caught up with work at the moment, and Fred’s done drawing so he’ll meet me for a drink outside this place. Currently I’m in a dark cool room in the back of a bar plugged into an outlet (I was on 5%) and using their wifi. This is my THIRD attempt today, and fourth coffee…. trying to satisfy all of my needs. Ugh.

The following photos will remind me of what’s been going on these last few days. It is Monday as I post.

We went to Montefiascone (20 minutes away) Friday, Fred's first day off.  I camped out in a favorite cafe and worked right up till a 4:30 conference call. No easy task to pull that off with wifi that kept booting me off every 22 minutes. But timing was in my favor and I got booted off just as we were saying our goodbyes.  

Here's where we had our end-of-day drink.  A wine bar overlooking Lago di Bolsena. We take all our guests here :) It's pretty spectacular.

There's a park at the very top of Montefiascone. This is the duomo.

After that drink and after a visit to that park, we walked around some more and killed time before having dinner in a piazza where the family's son Luigi waited the tables. This is typical, of course, but in this case it wasn't—he was only ten. There was a medieval festival going on all around us--one of my very least favorite things... but they weren't too invasive. And they did keep giving us free wine.

Loved these spunky kids. They seem to have just met.

Sunday we went to San Martino al Cimini, ten minutes away. I'd been there with the boys 11 years prior and had a perfectly miserable time with them....so there was no where to go but up. It's a charming little town. This is where that first coffee shop had the wrong password so I had to work on things without the benefit of any internet searches. When I exhausted that type of work, I moved to another, right across from where Fred happened to be sketching.

Later this night we came back for dinner and Fred, having realized he may have dropped a paintbrush at this spot, went back only to find two old ladies sitting on the bench. They watched him from 200 yards away making a bee line toward them across the piazza. He could see a little glimmer of metal under the bench. When he got there, they recognized him and he somehow managed to explain that the brush was under them.  Wish I'd been there for the laughs!

Snarly kitty.

 

Italian Water Dog. This guy fiercely but happily guarded his case of water. 

And... if it's a Saturday in July, it's a wedding. And I can't help myself.

She came to watch.

Reception. Waiting and ready. The waiters hid from my camera.

Carina machina!

Camouflaged dog.

And on Sunday, we went to Bagnaia, even closer than San Martino al Cimini. There I also had some internet issues... haven't got my mojo back yet. But today (Monday) has been awesome. And one of my biggest deadlines has been met.

This is the view from inside the old part of Bagnaia, out to the "new" part. That road leads up to Villa Lante, a spectacular garden people come from far and wide to visit. Fred sketched there today.

And when we got home, I took a walk and picked up some groceries.

These two pets watched me. Alas, they are separate photos -- contrary to what 151 Facebook followers seem to think!

And this is our neighbor. I think I took this pic last year. Never disappoints.

And finally, an homage to the plight of the American in Italian cafes trying to figure out the wifi.
This is how they tell me what the password is.  Sometimes I have to try 7 or 8 different ways.... What is that second character? 9?  G? Nope, it's a 4. Some little boys helped me with that one.

And if you can believe it, this one is: 1958. fernandos    If that weren't the name of the bar I would never have guessed it. Still took me ten tries.

And sometimes it's my fault. This one was perfectly clear but I still had to enter it three times....

And today, Monday, this sweet dog sat at my feet in a cafe all the way across town this morning. And two hours later, he shows up at my feet at another cafe.... I would take him home in a heartbeat!!!! But I'm hoping he's someone's dog because he's pretty clean.  I can't count how many people asked me today if he's my "cane."