L'avventura!
As one who rides the bus infrequently, the Italian system takes some understanding, especially if you can't even be understood when saying "Erice, the name of the famous (well, I think it would be famous in the region) medeival village on a mountaintop near the city of Trapani.I really wanted to go to Erice. It seemed simple. The hotel clerk printed out a bus schedule, gave me a Palermo city map with directions drawn on the streets, but I lacked the detail of where, exactly where the place was where I should stand and wait. I was able to find out where from a friendly polizia who asked if I were French or English and I forgot to say American.
I got to Trapani Stazione Centrale after a 2 hour ride through verdant farmland of grapes, orchards and cacti and palm trees, along pastures with sleek horses, past brilliant azure water and little boats nodding in the sea. I want to go there, and be one a boat in that water. Better yet, be in the water, nodding and floating myself.
Once in Trapani the panini seller/ticket seller told me that it would be an hour and a half until the next bus to Erice. But I could take the "cable way" bus which comes every twenty minutes. I'd heard of the gondola that took people up the mountain, which sounded fun. So again I got directions to a bus stop, the details very fuzzy in the two languages. I set off with a positive mindset. I won't bore you with my quest to find the 21/ 23 ATM bus, but I did find it and hour later by some dumb luck and watching for buses with ATM on the side.
"Erice," I said, and the driver seemed to understand.
After a few stops the man in the seat in front of me was shouting. I was reading up on what to do in Erice. I looked at his red face and he was shouting at the people behind me. The seats are very close together and he was in my face. I looked away. He was still shouting , now joined by a chorus: the bus driver and others on the bus. "ERICE," he was screaming at me like I was a deaf woman. "ERICE!" They were all pointing to the right.
"Oh. Erice," I said. "Grazie." I got off, wishing I could shrink into the pavement and looked up the hill beyond the fake red crenellated building on the corner and saw the Funierice.
No comments:
Post a Comment