So, we finally arrived at the chair lift that would take us to the top of Mount Solaro which is about 2,000 feet above sea level. We had done some research on this chair lift and we knew what expect as far as the actual lift but we had no idea that the views would be so stunning.
The lift is made of individual seats that would take us up in about 15 minutes. We saw the sea in a way I never want to forget. It was so quiet and peaceful while on the lift, the memories of the ferry ride were far, far away. We had fun snapping pictures of each other and looking around.
One thing about this lift was that it actually went over some houses and their back yards! I am not sure how I would feel about people riding over my house all the time!!
Once we were at the top, we enjoyed amazing views of the island and the water. We took some pictures before getting back the lift to head down. We were torn between wanting to get on again for the amazing ride and knowing that the ride down would mean the end.
The lift definitely didn't disappoint and as something we used as criteria for choosing our tour, we were glad we did it! But now our focus was on the next important thing... LUNCH! Our tour guide had recommended a couple of places and we went to one of them. Unexpectedly, we had the BEST pizza either of us EVER had. It was soooooo yummy!
We had been told that the ferry ride back to the mainland would be on a different boat and that the ride would be better. However, I didn't take any chances and about 1 hour before we boarded I took some Dramamine and passed it out like candy to other tourmates that were interested. Whether it was the drugs, the boat or that I slept most of the way, I made it through the ride just fine.
Once we got back to the port, we met up with Bogi and headed back to the hotel. As we rode back, Bogi announced that there was a laundromat near the hotel for those interested. Well, since we were over half way through our trip, we were VERY interested in having some clean clothes! We quickly did the math of a tour group of 30+ people and one laundromat. So, we practically ran off the bus, got to our room and threw all of our clothes into a bag and headed out.
Early in our trip, we realized that Bogi's definition of "not that far away", "pretty close" or "a quick walk" didn't match up to our definition. It always seemed to be MUCH farther than we expected. I am not sure why we didn't think that would apply to the laundromat... but it did!! We walked and walked through this little Italian town and couldn't find it. Finally the bag of laundry was proving to get too heavy so I told Brad to hang out while I walked down to a store that LOOKED like a laundromat. I was wrong. It was more like a convenience store but there was a very nice lady working there.
I smiled and used my shirt to mimic washing it. I said, "laundry?" There was a moment of confusion but then she responded by saying "lavanderia??" Excited, I responded "Si!!" She smiled and launched into a long explanation in Italian. I tried to follow her hand gestures and THOUGHT I got it. During this entire conversation, there had been this tiny Italian man watching us. As I turned to leave to leave the store, he must have seen my aprehension about the directions I had been given. After I motioned for Brad to come join me, the little man simply waved his hand for me to follow him.
Brad and I followed him... he never said a word. He reminded me of an Italian Tim Conway from "The Carol Burnett Show"... he took tiny little steps. Brad and I just looked at each other and followed. At one point, Brad leaned over and whispered about how this man could be leading us into an alley to be mugged. I laughed- something told me this little mad didn't have that agenda. We kept walking and walking until finally he just stopped walking and pointed. Sure enough, I looked up and there was the lavanderia!!! I happily smiled and said, "Grazie!!" With that, he just kept walking, his expression never changed.
We went in the laundromat and quickly realized that finding the place was only going to be part of the challenge... now we had to figure out how to use foreign waching machines! If you have ever seen the movie "Zoolander", I could compare it to the scene where they are trying to get the files out of the computer...
We eventually figured it out and sat down to relax as the machines happily hummed with the sound of clothes getting cleaned. It was only then that we notice there were instructions... not only in Italian but in German, French and ENGLISH!! UGH.
Oh well... it is part of the adventure of doing your laundry in a tiny Italian town, right?? As we sat and laughed at ourselves, we looked up to see several other folks form our tour group. They had finally found the "close by" laundromat too. Our plan had worked!! There weren't enough machines there for everyone to do their clothes before dinner. But we were all set!! We washed and dried two loads and then got back to the hotel just in time for dinner. It had been a successful trip to the lavanderia!
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