Bumpin' up and down in my little blue Fiat...

For those who know the song, "Bumpin' up and down in my little red wagon" I bring you the alternative version, which comes on the radio in my car on a fairly regular basis.

The sad news is that the line "one wheel's off and the axle's broken" has come nearly to pass: the other night on the way home from the archery dinner, I heard a strange grinding, the car slithered across the street (yes, luckily a back road and no traffic whatsoever), and was making a rubbing sound.

Yikes.

After a quick prayer of thanksgiving that we were all fine, we tried to limp the car a little further along, calling Leo for a rescue run.

We finally abandoned the car when it really said that it had had enough. Upon getting out, we noted that the front passenger wheel was at a decidedly odd angle. After having walked a few hundred meters, Michael (bless him) remembered the hazard triangle that you are required by law to put in the road in front of an abandoned or broken-down car. He and James went back to triangulate, and Eleanor and I continued up the hill.

Leo eventually picked us up about halfway home, and told me that he had FLOWN back from another service to help us out, bless him.

Needless to say, I didn't sleep at all that night. The next morning, I called the mechanics starting at 7:50 until they picked up the phone at 8:05. They were going to come pick up the key from me, and then let me know what the problem was.

Turns out to be a leaf spring. Thank goodness for my sense of guilt, it's something that also happens not uncommonly with even modern cars here because of the crummy condition of the roads...in other words, the breakdown was NOT the result of my choice to drive the world's cutest (but old) car.

On the other hand, I DID just pay for a new starter...and before that whatever it was...and before that... Older cars do require some upkeep, understandably, but there does come a point at which you have to consider whether or not to cut your losses. Truthfully, I'm not at that point emotionally at all. I LOVE my car. Every time I get in it, I chortle, "This is the CUTEST CAR EVER!!! I LOVE MY CAR!" So the thought of just getting rid of it was really, really sad.

This morning, I had the idea of perhaps buying a 1967 model like mine that doesn't run in order to scavenge parts if and when necessary. A quick web search showed up NO models that don't run, but a bunch of models that do...but are for sale for TWICE what I paid three years ago! All of a sudden, the additional maintenance cost doesn't seem completely out of line. So that is the  good news.

In the meantime, we're looking for a leaf spring ("balestra" in Italian). And I have a rental car which I loathe. No one can tell we're coming down the road (I love seeing tourists scatter, clucking like hens, when they hear my engine), no sunroof, a built-in radio rather than a DIY soundtrack, and it's super-high and feels wiggly on the road. However, it's a stopgap.

Love,

Alexandra