Leaving Sorrento Saturday morning early, we had to catch a shuttle to take us to Naples.  Everyone voted and all decided that a repeat of the Circumvesuviana train (the pickpocket train) was an experience that we did not necessarily have to repeat.  (Oh so NOW they listen to me)  We were supposed to wait in the main piazza, Piazza Tasso for the shuttle.  So there we were with all of our possessions loaded into our carryons, like a group of homeless Americans standing around waiting for a handout.

Our driver picked us up and delivered us to the Naples train station without incident.  We caught our Frecciarossa (really fast train) north to Rome.  Finding our way to the Rome shuttle that would take us to the Rome Airport where we planned to pick up and at the end of our trip drop off our rental car, was a bit challenging.  We were on the hunt for that and probably looking confused.  A young lady stepped up and asked us if she could help.  I told her what where we wanted to go and she promptly led us over to some ticket machines.  She punched in everything we needed and told me to pay the machine.  I did so and four tickets for the 30 minute nonstop train ride to the Rome airport were now in our possession.  She then grabbed Lynda’s suitcase and said to follow her.  We walked through the terminal and past many platforms.  She stopped at a validation machine and ran our four tickets through that and then continued on until we arrived at the correct platform.  She told us our train will be here soon.  I thanked her and offered her 10 euros for her trouble.  She thanked me but looked at Doug and Barb and Lynda and indicated she didn’t just help me but she helped them too.  I reached into my pocket for change and pulled another 4-5 euros out and as I was counting it out, she said to just give it all to her.  I did and she left us to wait for our train.  Doug asked how it felt to be shaken down.  I thought, well that was certainly cheaper than getting on a wrong train or wandering lost for another hour or so.  I would have paid 25 euros for her information.  Barb remarked well at least she’s not on the street begging, but performing a service.  We caught the shuttle and arrived at Hertz car rental office.  This time they gave us a Ford Focus station wagon.  Apparently they had heard some reports of us flying around Italy in a BMW and wanted to change our image a little.  Works for us.  We set off to drive out of Rome and successfully exited the city without incident.  We arrived last evening to our Chiusi autostrada exit about 7:30 pm.  Our new landlady was communicating with us by phone on our way from Rome and she met us at our exit to lead us to the villa.  We followed her in through a gate and down a long drive.  There before us was an amazing looking villa.  She showed us inside and we were again floored at the beauty and size of this place.  Flamiana had prepared a plate of antipasta for us, complete with salami, cantaloupe wrapped in prosciutto, olives, sundried tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, fresh Tuscan bread and a bottle of very good local wine.  It was a massive plate and we finished it all.  She had also made us a cherry pastry for breakfast, but we broke into that last night and finished it off today when we got up.  We explored our new villa and the surrounding countryside.  Lynda spotted a herd of pigs roaming around.

Off to explore the town of Chiusi….there are two parts (one is old town and the other is newer with the train station.  We chose the old town.

We found a church built in the 1400’s and went inside to see.

Now all of us love Marcella back home, but we didn’t realize the impact that she is having on everyday people here in Italy……until now.