Oh the Places You'll Go!

Especially  if you don't pay attention to the marquee on the front of the bus. We learned that lesson yesterday on what had previously been a simple trip to and back from the grocery store. There are two cozy grocery stores within a 5-minute walk of our apartment; but they don't carry some of the things we need in setting up a new place. There is a mall that takes about 15 minutes to get to on the bus that we've used a couple of times. Yesterday, we got there in a little less time because the bus didn't take the normal route we were used to. We thought it was a little strange, and when we realized it was going the wrong direction we quickly got off at the next stop. Usually, we have to walk about 5 minutes from the bus stop to the mall; but yesterday as we looked around to get our bearings, we were about 50 yards from the entrance! 

We shopped for a while and then went back to where we were dropped off (across the street, so we'd catch the bus going the other way.) We had a lot of stuff--groceries, mixing bowls, an ironing board and two huge pillows.  The bus arrived in about 2 minutes and we were on our way home--a trip of about 10 minutes.  If only.

When the bus got to our neighborhood of Buffalotta, it was supposed to turn left towards our street; but it continued north. I thought, "This is strange..." As our neighborhood disappeared in the distance, we kept expecting the bus to turn around. When I realized we were probably on our way to Switzerland, I told Robyn we needed to get off. She was certain that since we missed our stop, we could  enjoy the trip and it would just make a big circle.  Soon, we passed signs indicating that cars from the other direction were entering Rome. Then we passed olive groves, plowed fields, and herds of sheep. The bus came to a stop and we were the only people left.  The bus driver said we had to get off because this was the end of the line. I asked, "Non torna alla Buffalotta?" --This doesn't go back to Buffalotta? He shook his head and clicked his tongue--"Tz." That's a word that you can't find in the dictionary, but it means "No." It's said with the tip of the tongue off the top front of the mouth. More than "no," it meant we were in trouble. It took 3 hours to get home from there.

It might have been more fun if it had been just me and Robyn, but schlepping all the store stuff with us dampened our enthusiasm. The important lesson we learned was that the number on the front of the bus telling you the route is only half the information. After the number is a street name that you need to be aware of. When we took what we thought was our regular bus number 86, that wasn't the 86 we needed. We lucked out going to the mall; but not so much on the return trip. But, if we want to go see some sheep and olive groves 20 miles north of Rome, we know where to go.