Dufus and Lucy Take A Trip To Fiesole

Sometimes my sister and I can laugh at ourselves. Let's just say it's an important thing to do while traveling.  Fiesole is where we named ourselves Dufus and Lucy. Since Carol is the more seasoned traveler in Italy, she got to be Lucy. 

One day, while in Italy, Dufus and Lucy decided to take the number seven bus to Fiesole. It's a short bus ride to this rural Tuscan area. 

It took them about an hour and a half to figure out where the right bus stop was, but they made it in time to hop on, buy their ticket from the bus driver and find a seat.

While there, Dufus and Lucy visited the remains of the Etruscan walls.

Marveled at the scenery,

and had fun taking pictures using the automatic timer.

They are easily pleased and had great fun running back to the camera to check out the picture.

Plus, running back and forth helped to keep them warm.

They walked (what else?) up a big, big hill to see a monastery.

They had a nice lunch, hopped back onto the number 7 bus, bought their ticket, and settled in for the picturesque ride home.

Until the bus police came on board.

The bus police looked directly at Dufus and Lucy and asked to see their bus tickets. The ladies happily brought forth their tickets, but were perturbed to see the bus police begin to frantically speak in Italian with many hand gestures. One police-bus person sat down and tried to explain to Lucy that they did not believe she and Dufus had purchased their tickets. Lucy kept telling the nice bus policeman that she and Dufus had just purchased the ticket from the bus driver not more than 20 minutes ago. (In English.) "Go ask her!" Lucy exclaimed. The bus police kept looking back and forth to Lucy, Dufus and the bus driver. Then one of the bus policemen took Lucy's ticket and went over to a machine that was on the bus and stamped Lucy's ticket.

Well.

Dufus just thought that all the people stamping their tickets were students with a gift-card-sort-of-ticket and stamped those until the card was empty.

Lucy thought that maybe, just maybe they should stamp their ticket, but quickly lost interest in the idea when the beautiful scenery showed up in the window.

The bus police men then brought out a ticket book and wrote down the price of a ticket for not stamping your purchased bus ticket.

50 euro.

Lucy and Dufus looked at each other and yelled, "FIFTY EURO???????"

Lucy, thinking quicky, dug around and found her ticket from the morning's bus ride up to Fiesole, and showed it to the bus police. "AAAHHHHH!!!" Was their reaction. (with the throwing up of the hands and everything!)

The gentlemen then turned their gaze upon Dufus, expecting her to show the ticket she purchased that morning.

Well.

She began to frantically dig through her bag, telling them (in English) that she too, had a ticket. No. REALLY. She had a ticket from the morning. She kept pulling out bags from cute shops she had bought things from and showed all the bags and said, "LOOK! I'm buying things from your country!!" Right. She thought it was a helpful thing to say.

Dufus thought it would also be helpful to shake her finger at the bus police and say, "Do not make me cry!"

Apparently it was, because they let Dufus out of a ticket and got off of the bus. Probably to go hunt down some other unsuspecting tourist and make them quake in their dumb walking shoes. It had to have been the walking shoes that tipped them off to ask about the stamped ticket.

Lucy and Dufus got off the bus in Florence, and promptly sat on a bench in the square to catch their breath.

"If we had gotten the ticket," Dufus asked Lucy. "and then gone home without paying it, what would they do? It's not like they would come to the United States and hunt us down or anything....would they?"

And she began taking pictures, because that always makes one feel better.

"I seriously doubt it."Said Lucy. "Would they track down Lauren and kick her out of the country for a 50 euro ticket?" wondered Dufus out loud.

"Well, I doubt that as well" said the sensible Lucy.

"But it wouldn't be worth the cost for them to come and hunt me down" mused Dufus.

"But knowing my luck, they would."

And with that thought, she was VERY relieved to have gotten out of a ticket.

Then Dufus and Lucy thought that a little Cafe Latte and a Bombolino would make everything all better.

The end.

xo,

Dufus.