Mission Impossible!

Reading instructions has never been my forte, I know it’s a typical ‘man thing’, but I take it to a new level. My rule of thumb being ‘just plough on until you’re stuck then only read the amount necessary to get you to the next problem’. At least that was how it used to be, but now I just get frustrated and annoyed once I’m stuck, which I was, trying to find the ‘hotel’ in Siena.

Call me an old traditionalist, but on Monday night after speaking on the phone to whom I perceived to be the receptionist, I made the (wrong) assumption that this was a hotel the type of which I’d come to expect. Tuesday morning as I drove from Pisa towards Siena my phone got bombarded with WhatsApp messages from the receptionist. I was enjoying the drive, stopping for photos in the Tuscan countryside and had the destination of the car valet service programmed into my satnav, what more did I need? Well, reading the WhatsApp messages would’ve saved me some frustration and annoyance. All went smoothly up to the car parking service on the outskirts of the city, whereupon I was driven in Herman to supposedly 20 metres from the hotel. Being literally only 100 metres from the main piazza this would presumably be an old building, but nevertheless I expected some indication that there was in fact a hotel there! After pacing up and down the steep street several times with my luggage, out of frustration I finally rang the receptionist who was very understanding of this confused old man and re-sent the messages I should have read in the first place! However, in my defence I have never encountered a ‘hotel’ quite like this. Yes the instructions were clear if time was taken to read them, but finding my bedroom was akin to something out of Mission Impossible. The hotel is actually the top floor of a 14th century building which has been converted into a small lounge and 4 en-suite bedrooms. Breakfast is ‘served’ in a local cafe.

Maybe I’m not an experienced enough traveller yet to think outside the box, but this most recent episode will hopefully serve me well in the future, and is all part of the ‘joy’ of travel.