Returning to the Scene of the Crime

Tuesday I decided to go to Sinalunga to get groceries.  When I reached the town it was a hive of activity, there was a huge outdoor market and all the streets had been blocked off.  I parked the car on an overpass and walked back to the beginning of the market stalls.  They were selling everything from clothing to pets, and tools to linens and food.  There were many stalls selling cooked pork with whole roasted pigs being carved up right before your eyes.  I had no idea Italians were so fond of candy, there were countless candy booths with varieties I had never seen before.  I discovered  anise tasting chips called Brigidini  that seemed to be everywhere.  I walked for miles, checking out all the stalls as I went.  Even pets were being sold and I saw the most adorable Yorkie puppy, had I been at home he would have come home with me.  

 It seemed that at every intersection streets were closed and the booths continued in each new direction. After several hours I grew tired and started back the way I had come.  When I arrived at the traffic circle I could not figure out which of the exits I had come from.  I wandered from one road  to the other for what seemed like hours before I finally recognized a booth that led me back to where I had parked the car.  It had turned very warm and I was not dressed for it.  By the time I reached the car I was overheated, dehydrated and had a headache.

 I headed back the way I had come and selected the GPS directions for home.  When I saw the sign for Trequanda I thought that it was odd as I did not remember coming that way.  When the GPS led me up a narrow street higher into the village I began to get suspicious that something was not right.  There was no place to turn around so I had to keep going.  The GPS instructed me to turn left up into a wide area overlooking the valley and bordered by a low stone wall on one side and an archway on the other.  I immediately recognized this place, even before the GPS informed me that my destination was on the other side of the archway.  There were still lines of black paint clinging to the jagged rocks on both walls of the archway, reminders of my last visit here.    Those damned trolls were at it again!!!  This time I would not fall for their tricks. 

The street that led me here was only wide enough for one car and was a one way street.  I could not continue along that street as there were trucks parked on its shoulder with not enough room to get past them. I could not go through the archway.  I had no choice but to go back the way I had come...the wrong way on a one way street.  In order to make the turn onto that street i had to do a 5 point turn and then headed down the street slowly, aware that I might meet another car at any moment.  Almost immediately I met a car coming the other way and although I’m sure the drivers gestures were not complimentary, she did back up so that I could get by her.  On a sharp curve further on, a larger vehicle quickly rounded the corner and almost hit me head on.  I did not have to guess what his gestures meant!  I backed up as far as I could but the road just was not wide enough for him to pass.  Grudgedly, he backed up until I was able to get by him....and felt it necessary to inform me that this was a one way street, as if I hadn’t already figured that out.  I slowly made my way down the hill until I arrived at an intersection where I could get off that street.  If the GPS had not been installed in the dash of the car it would have taken flight out the window, over the cliff, and smashed on the rocks below.

 I figured out the correct directions and travelled back to Castelmuzio without the assistance of the trolls or their equipment.   I found the operating instructions booklet in the glove compartment and brought it up to the house to try to figure out how to erase the destination in Trequanda.  The entire book is in French, of course.  I had already tried to erase the destination without any luck; and even tried to change its name, which did not seem to be possible.  Although the French words in the manual were not familiar to me, I was eventually able to figure out how to erase the dreaded location from the GPS.  I hope I never find myself there again!