After a lot of research, we decided the best option for us to get a car here was via a Peugeot Open Europe lease. The only catch was the closest pickup location was Rome airport, 4 hours away by train (technically three trains since I had to go via Florence).
I decided to get the 5:30am train out of Siena on Monday morning to give me as much time as possible to get to Rome, fill in the paperwork, get the car and get back to Siena.
Fortunately, you can always get a coffee in Italy, even it’s from a vending machine.
The station was deserted, which made getting on the right train a bit of a leap of faith.
Fortunately, I did get the right train and after the sun came up a couple of hours later I was treated to some pretty spectacular scenery.
I got to Peugeot at about 10:30am, had a (surprisingly) short briefing on the car, and headed back to Siena.
I even got some rainbows.
I made it back home safely after a long day.
There had been snow forecast for Tuesday, but we’d had false alarms before so we didn’t think much of it. The day came and went without incident but by midday Wednesday it was snowing pretty heavily. We decided to walk to the local pizzeria for a cosy lunch.
By the time we finished lunch the snow was starting to build up. We were getting a bit concerned about being able to get the kids from school, especially with the new car which we didn’t really trust in the snow yet.
When we got to the school it was pandemonium. Everyone had made the same decision to collect their kids and the tiny (and hilly) parking area at the school was full of SUV drivers not used to the snow sliding all over the place trying not to collide with each other. It was at this moment that I realised we didn’t have snow chains (which we are required by law to carry at all times).
I managed to park the car on a level surface, get the kids and make it back down to the main road. Our normal route home has a section with a significant incline but when I came up to it I could see cars stuck halfway up, trying to avoid other cars sliding down towards them. I mentally planned another (less steep) route up the hill as the snowfall increased. We made it up and over and onto the freeway.
As we got closer to home I remembered that our house was at the top of a rise. I was pretty sure we weren’t going to make it up, so I started looking for somewhere to park the car. Pretty quickly I realised that lots of other people were coming to the same conclusion - there were cars ditched all over the place. Finally I found a spot about 1km from our place.
We left the car and started walking home (on an icy road with no footpath).
We made it!
By then it was pretty much total whiteout.
Eventually it eased enough for some snowman-building.
And some great views.
The next morning it was still snowing and the school called a snow day. I decided to go for a run to continue my Rocky IV fantasies.
I headed through the walnut grove and up the hill.
And then up the road to check on the car.
The whole area was pretty snowed in, and without chains we weren’t driving anywhere.
So we decided to go back to the pizzeria for lunch.
And then spent the rest of the afternoon tobogganing.
And building (somewhat tilted) snowmen.
PS We now have snow chains.