travelswithalice

May 17, 2022

Adventures, misadventures, and wonderful outcomes

Beautiful day, we’re on our way to Milan, stopping 2 nights in Brescia to break the long trip.

Half an hour into the drive,

BANG!!!

Our car ‘s hood springs open, slams onto the windscreen, shattering the glass.

I really don’t know how Stuart managed to stay so calm, steering the car to a lay-by, the hood up against the shattered windshield completely blocking his view, him peering out from the open window.

Having gotten us out of the main traffic flow, he gets out, shuts the hood, and calls Budget Car.

I brush off as much of the bits of broken glass on the dashboard out the door. There’s some on the seats. On us too I imagine.

Stuart doesn’t like staying on the highway, even on the lay-by. So he carefully and very skilfully, drives the car into the nearest autostrada exit, careful not to jar the mangled windshield.

My mind is racing. Isn’t safety glass supposed to break up into webs of dull tiny pieces? This one has big sharp shards.

Budget Car to the rescue? Not!

I assumed the car rental company would take care of their customers, in this case, Stuart and me. Dreaming!

They of course take care of the car, never mind us! We had informed the Budget Car people that we had luggage and that riding in the car with the shattered windshield would be dangerous. They said we could ride in the truck with the driver. Wrong!

We have to get ourselves to the airport in Verona to get a replacement car. The tow truck man doesn’t speak any English. He writes down a number to call if we have any trouble getting a taxi ourselves. Not relishing the prospect of anymore trouble, I manage to get him to call the taxi himself.

Moving on.

We have a new car.

At Double Tree Hilton in Brescia, we’re told they don’t have porter service at their hotel. They do have a luggage trolley, so we help ourselves.

After checking in though, the front office wakes up and things start to happen. We’re given a suite and Claudia now decides she really must help us with the luggage.

It’s Sunday so the hotel restaurant is closed. Claudia recommends a nearby restaurant that delivers. She sends us a menu, we give our orders and settle in for a well-deserved rest after the broken windshield mess.

As it turns out, it’s now too late for our lunch order. The restaurant is now closed until 6:30.

Stuart goes out to buy food from the supermarket. We’re getting ready to eat a much delayed lunch when we discover that there’s no air conditioning in the hotel until tomorrow.

Okay, we’re getting out of here. Shall we go to Gargnano?

Yes please!

As we drive out of Brescia, an orange warning light on the dashboard indicates an oil problem. It’s Sunday, so there’s no service available in the service stations.

We nevertheless drive on to Lake Garda without any trouble, arriving in Villa di Gargnano in time for dinner.

And just like that, everything’s alright with our world again.

posted by Alice Dimalanta Jones # May 17, 2022

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