'Charming'.
Such a loaded word. I get the report that breakfast is pretty sad, we still can't get online, and we're changing hotels. We go to check out another place on the other end of town that is more modern and less charming. We take it and move all of our stuff over to the new place. I need to do laundry, so we go into town to try and find a lavanderia. There are several, but none are self service and they all need several days, at minimum. this is cutting things kind of close, so I propose that we head to Perugia (an hour or so away) where I know a self service laundromat, to sweeten the pot, I wonder if we might be able to find a store to fix dad's computer/cell phone problems. The parents give into my need for clean clothes and we head out of town. Well first we have to go back to the hotel and get dad's computer, in the hopes that there will be someone who can explain how to set up the cell phone as a wireless modem for the computer. So once we finally are heading out of town, it's 11:30. Most stores in Italy still close for a siesta from 1 to 4 PM (not as much in big cities). To get to Perugia, find a phone store, park and get in before 1 PM will be tight.

But we make it...it turns out it's a shorter drive than expected, dad finds a short cut that gets us right close to the gate where it turns out that the lavanderia still is and we find a TIM store not too far outside the old city. Seth spent a summer in Perugia and my parents have been
several times, as have I, so we have a decent knowledge of the area.

This is however the site of my first traffic accident. Strangely (for those who know my father) I have been driving nearly exclusively and dad has been riding or navigating the whole time. This is very odd, but it seems to have been working. I love driving in Italy and so far things have been great...no car sickness, no fender benders, not too many sharp turns at high speed. Until today. I'm reversing out of the dead end street by the hotel where dad has gotten the address for the TIM store when there is a crunch. Luckily it's not a person or a car, just a sign post. The car is barely scratched, but there goes the no hitter.

So, we get to the TIM store and the very nice lady who nearly speaks English can't help and it's time to close for lunch so get out. But she does give us the name of a computer store that might be able to help.
and very vague directions. So we decide to see if we can find it before going to do laundry and have lunch. We can't. We end up out by the soccer stadium (where I've been before!!! A great soccer game several years before) and by the train station and a little lost and hungry. So we give up and head back to the laundromat.

I do love doing laundry in Europe. The machines have a central pay station and there are directions in so many languages that it's nearly worse than having no directions. There's the performance anxiety of wanting to seem like you know what you are doing, you meet all sorts of people....We start the laundry and head to a bar next door for simple panini for lunch. dad heads to the Internet cafe to catch up on stuff and mom and I head back to switch the laundry. There's a group of guys doing laundry. they seem to be from Libya or Algeria and are kind of sleazy; they're not wearing shoes or socks, which is pretty gross (although ti turns out they are washing their shoes, so there is a good
reason) and then they keep asking us if we are done with the dryer, even though it's still going and still full of our clothes. One guy keeps scratching his legs and pulling up his pants (his legs are red and pock
marked) and then he decides to mess with us a little. Mom had made a couple of comments that he may or may not have understood, he starts talking trash to us...this doesn't go over so well with mom, so we finally finish, fold our laundry, and get out of dodge. I still love doing laundry, especially know that it's clean!

So then it's time to go, but it's to early. The computer store won't open till 4 and it's only 3. We decide to try and find it again. we drive around the train station, past the first TIM store, call some people to try to find an address on the internet, all with out luck. So we give up. I take a wrong tern past the train station, but we are still heading out of town. As I am maneuvering to get into the correct lane to get on the autostrada, there it is: Technotel, just on the right side of the street. It's next to a gas station, basically on the exit ramp...it's pure serendipity. It is virtually impossible that someone could have actually given us directions to get to this place.

And it's closed.

So we have a half hour to kill...off to the hotel across the street to sit in the lobby. Where there's a Weight Watcher's meeting going on.... Back at the Technotel, dad starts talking to the guy who works there and he trys to help us. 20 minutes go by, 45 minutes go by, an hour....he's making progress and he understands the problem (something with dirvers for the phone to be used as a modem and settings on the phone to access the high speed GPRS network), speaks enough English, and dad speaks enough Italian, that progress is made. After an hour and a quarter, he can get his phone to work, but not our phone. The cable doesn't seem to recognize dad's phone, but the phone is set up correctly. He suggests that we leave the computer and phone with him over night and he will take them home, download the driver, call tech support and solve the problems. There's only one problem....dad has to give up his computer (and phone). Everything is on the computer. As we tell the guy, ' the computer has his whole life, so be careful!!!'. But we do it. Stefano is the man and we will come back the next day. it is a traumatic moment as we pull away, without so much as a work order, receipt or ticket, and head out on the autostrada...not even convinced that we can get back to the store successfully.

Back in Sansepolcro for dinner, we head into town to la Fiorentino, a 200 year old restaurant serving typical Tuscan food. It's quite good, with a friiendly owner (who speaks perfect English...this is a bit touristy, but he's very charming, so it's OK). I start with a local white cheese (called cottage cheese in the English translation, but it's not like any cottage cheese I've ever had) topped with oil, salt, pepper, and spices (almost pesto like). It's very smooth and very tasty. Next is a soup with farro (spelt..a grain) and a bean that he can't translate for me (cecericchie, I believe in Italian). the soup is tasty (even more so with olive oil and parmesan). Even though I'm not even that hungry, I have a meat course of lamb which turns out to be the best thing I have.Very moist and well seasoned. I hardly ever eat lamb, so this is a pleasant surprise. A side of mixed vegetables dissappoints, but it's not terrible. Mom has a really great pasta with artichokes and bistecca fiorentino (about as good a steak as one can have) with grilled potatoes. Dad had the bruschetta misto (always a fan favorite), a ravioli (I think, it wasn't memorable, well made, but I can't remember how it was
prepared) and the mixed vegetables...the house red and we are set....

Dessert is too good to pass up (also a good presentation...the waiter pushes the cart to our table and jokes that he just happened to be in the neighborhood). Mom has the torta nona ( grandma's cake, which has never appealed to me...probably the pine nuts) and I'm going to pass, but dad orders the panna cotta con fruitti di bosco. So how can I say no. It's one of the best ever. Excellent consistancy (the right smoothness), sweet but not too sweet and topped with the tart berries (fruit of the woods...raspberries, black berries and blueberries )

We roll home and I start writing emails (I'm a few days behind). but Juno decides I'm a spammer because of the quantity...I'll have to figure that out later... Tomorrow we will actually try to be tourists in Sansepulcro and see if Stefano is as good as his word.