Italy as it Happened...Day 10

Italy as it Happened...Day 10

Friday, April 19th

Houston, we have a problem!  How can a vacation be so perfect? It can't! There is always at least one thing that wrinkles an otherwise entirely smooth trip. Initially I thought not being able to contact our host in Venice was the only portion of this trip that I would have some concern about, and as you know, it ended up not being that big of a problem (maybe a little one, if that). Now, we are facing an energy shortage that could affect the remaining portion of our vacation. A crisis was in the making...

My camera's battery indicator was showing a "Charge Now" warning and my IPad was also dangerously low. Just before we left the States I bought (on EBay) a power-down converter. This was a cool model that even had a USB port for electronics like lap tops (and IPads). I was able to do a slow trickle charge on the camera battery but in half a day it would be in the red again. On a full charge the camera battery will usually last a week before needing a charge - we were at that one week point. The IPad would not take a charge at all. The convertor was becoming extremely hot. Great! I can either burn down my hosts apartment or go the rest of our vacation without being able to take any more pics or go online when WiFi was available. This was a dilemma.

While we were at the Assisi train station, checking out the visitors information center,  we struck up a conversation with Jack, an American lawyer who now lives in Assisi and runs the info center. He was a wealth of information. First, as I mentioned yesterday, Kerry just wanted to hop onto a train and head down the rails for a day. Jack suggested a couple of options including going to Spello (the next stop down the line). He said the town was like Old Assisi but much smaller and with no crowds. I'm in! 

Jack suggested that we walk to the top and find a restaurant he knew of, have a great lunch (with a view) and then work our way back down, and return to Assisi in the late afternoon. The train we would take was due in Assisi in about 15  minutes, so we purchased the return tickets and waited on Platform 1. A train did come in on Platform 2 and thinking that was our train, Kerry and I ran under the underpass tunnel and up onto Platform 2. As we were about to board, another train arrived on Platform 1. We asked the conductor, "Spello?" He pointed to the other train. Kerry and I ran back under the underpass, through the tunnel and onto the Platform 1 train. We were soon rolling down the rails with no idea if this was the right train or not. I suggested that we just go for the ride and see what the next stop would be. Fifteen minutes later we pulled into Spello.   

From the train station we walked for about 8 or 9 blocks before coming to a large park. Across the park was a narrow road that headed up a hill. We could see the town of Spello sitting on the summit and there was only one way up...walk.

Spello was exactly as Jack described, small, ancient and without tourist. We found out later that Spello is very quiet during the week but all of the locals go there on weekends. Kerry and I enjoyed the day exploring this amazing place, a place we called our own. 

After a couple of hours of exploring we finally found that restaurant located at the top of the town, with amazing panoramic views. "Looks expensive," I pondered as we entered. "Sorry, we are not open yet. Please come back in 30 minutes," was suggested to us by the manager. "No problem," I replied while giving Kerry a tug. She was on the same page as I was and as we exited the dining patio, we took a few photo's, just to lock in the memory of the moment. 

We decided to walk around some more, in the general direction of the road down the hill towards the train station. Along the way we were confident that we would find a nice place to eat. We did.

As we entered this small restaurant a lady greeted us with a smile. In Italian she told us that they were not open yet but she would be happy to show us a table and go over the menu options with us. Their special was a total 4 course meal. It sounded excellent. Kerry ordered hers with each course being different compared to mine. This way we get to share each other's food and get the most out of the experience. It was a perfect meal in a perfect location (with my perfect best friend). As we finished the last bite, the owner smiled as I looked her in the eyes and said, "Perfecto!" She knew it was by the smiles on our faces.

With full tummies we headed back down towards the train station, arriving only 10 minutes before our train was due to arrive. As we waited I pondered my concern about my camera battery and the IPad as well. The trickle charge did give us enough juice to handle the pictures we took today, and I guess we could spend the rest of the vacation doing limited photography, if we had to. But the weak battery was always on my mind. 

When we arrived back in Assisi, we stopped to thank our new friend Jack (the retired lawyer now information center manager). He asked us how our day went and we shared every detail. I also asked him if he knew where I could buy a new charger/down-converter. He asked what I needed to charge and after I explained my situation to him he shared with us an experience he once had with a converter. He had a laptop and for months he went through a daily routine of lugging the charger around with him in Europe, plugging in and slowly recharging his laptop. Then someone told him that if his laptop had a specification 110v/220v on it, he wouldn't need to use the down-converter. He would only need a plug adapter to fit into the outlet of the country he was in.

As we was telling me this a light went off  in my head. "Of course," I whispered to myself as I continued to listen. He did say that the first time he plugged his laptop directly into a 220v outlet, he expected to see a puff of white smoke, but instead, he saw an indicator that said, "Charging." Then Jack rummaged through a junk drawer. He found an adapter that allowed U.S plug configurations to fit into the Italian outlet. He handed it to me and said, "If it works, just bring it back to me when you're done with it."

When we arrived at home I quickly looked at the IPad plug in and found the specification (110v-200v). Next I checked the camera charger and it too read 110v-220v. Kerry's Kindle Fire also indicated the same. I took Jacks adapter and fitted it to the IPad plug. As I slowly plugged it into the wall, I too was expecting to see a white puff of smoke but instead I heard a beep, followed by the message, "Charging." I looked at the down-converter I had and with the package was an adapter, like the one Jack gave me. That meant I could now charge two devices at the same time. I plugged in the cameras battery and had the same result as I did with the IPad...an indicator message showing a charge was working. When both were done I also charged Kerry's Kindle. Jack was the man and tomorrow I would let him know it.

Being our last night in Assisi, Kerry and I packed our bags after having a light dinner. After the bags were all packed we went out for one last walk around the neighborhood. It was a very pleasant way to end a very pleasant stay. Next, bedtime tea. We slept well.