June 29: Last day in Como. I have been going to the grocery store down the road each morning by myself to get food for the day. The lady inside knows which breads we like and starts pointing to which ones and I tell her how many. Peach and fish sound similar so it's a good thing she doesn't carry fish at all. There is a little problem with the walk home though. I have a reusable bag I picked up in Rome and it has come in handy as I walk home.

I made Tanner pose on the side of the road. Notice how close he is hugging the wall. They have learned. I just told him to turn around so I could take a picture. He is eating a peach not a fish we bought from the market.

Tyler on the other hand is just standing there. Do you see how a child of twelve who has not gone through puberty yet barely fits past the white line. That is the side of the road. I guess cars never break down here. The space is as little as inches in some spots but no more than a foot in others. I've almost been run over a couple of times by drivers who come around the blind corner and aren't watching for a lady carrying groceries at 8:00 in the morning. I have started using my green bag as a surrender flag, holding it perpendicular to my body as to draw attention to the cars I can't see yet, but I can hear. They seem shocked to see me on the side of the road. The hair on your arms, and legs - we are going European because we are too tired at the end of the day for hygiene - moves with the wind of the passing car like seaweed flows with the tides. Todd, who never ruffles unless we stand too close to him which has been a lot lately since we don't know what we are doing, even commented on how close the cars came.

Since the roads are only big enough to fit one and a half cars, and that is smart cars at best, the drivers are always honking a while they approach and turn the corner to let any drivers who might be coming that way know that they are not slowing down and they are there. From our apartment, I just thought all the drivers were really friendly and honking at neighbors as they drove by. The drivers also honk at you when they come from behind to make sure you don't dart out in the road like a chicken I guess. Well, I lose all common sense when I am honked at from behind, among other things.Why do you think when you honk inches from my backside that I am going to do anything but dart in the road. I have never felt the urge to grab the retaining wall ever. The boys say they don't get scared by the honking, but by my screaming after the honking starts.... which brings me to the next photos.

Yes, that is Todd coming up the road. The bus driver has been nice and moved over a little to let them pass in safety. Only the hairs on part of his arms are waving at me too. Maybe they know he is a foreigner. It couldn't be that sleak well hidden backpack/fanny pack with three gallons of water hanging off the sides that gave him away. Is he carrying the remote cause I think he packed the flatscreen too. When the drivers drop off the Italians, they don't give them any room on the narrow roads. The bus pulls up right next to the right line, they hug the wall, wait for the bus to leave and then move on. It's a challenge of the calliber of Houdini and every one here is an expert. As we were going to the grocery store that morning, the boys and I were about at the spot Todd was. I hear in the not to far distant, a very large and very loud horn. It's early and I am not really thinking. The honking gets louder and closer and it dawns on me that something really big is warning me that it is coming and we had better move fast because I don't think I can scream loud enough to cover the sound of my pooping my pants. I always have the kids walk infront of me, unlike Todd, so I can make sure I have all of them and I am not always looking back to see if they are with us. Todd doesn't look back either, he just expects them to keep up. That is why he is always in the front and I am always in the back. So, the boys are walking ahead of me as the panic sets in and before I know what I am doing, I'm screaming, "Run for your lives boys... it's a bus... we're not going to make it! RUUUUUNNNNNN!" While I am screaming I keep shoving that backsides to move them along faster. It took everything in me to not pass them and just drag them. They didn't seem to have to same urgency as I did. Of course, they go back home and tell Dad that they aren't going to go with Mom to the grocery store anymore cause she's crazy than that Italian lady on the busstop balcony in Rome. She must be Italian Dad cause she can scream just as loud as that lady.

So this is the sign a couple of buildings before the blind curve. I guess it is to let you know to proceed at your own risk. I am not a thrill seeker that's for sure. I see that sign and I would turn the other way, park, and walk. I wished I had know this when we rode the bus to and from Lugano the other day. Remember the size of the bus above and the size of the streets. All streets that lead to Rome were made narrow no matter where they led. So in the mountains of the Italian Alps, the roads are as narrow, the buses are as big, and the roads wind and wind around. The trip up was not too bad. I just tried to focus on the sky in order not to get car sick. I was able to see the sky because all the trees and bushes were trimmed along the roadside. I was wondering how they achieved this with all the traffic. People don't do it, it's the buses. As soon as we came upon a bush or tree that had overgrown the road a little, -the bus just kept going , whacking off the overgrown part leaving a whirlwhind of foliage following us. I could use this kind of trimming at home. And the turns. I am gasping for air everytime he goes around a corner I thought for sure he wouldn't clear. I was hyperventalating by the time we got there.  The drive up was nothing like the drive home for many reasons. First, we get on the bus and the driver doesn't even look like he shaves yet and I wondered where you practiced bus driving lessons here. In addition to his youth, he had a lead foot. I decided if I ever wanted to rob a bank, I would call Giovanni up and offer him the job as my get-away driver. His honking was continuous because we were going around so many corners and he was taking them like the Indy 500. The seats Tanner and I picked on the drive back were in the middle of the bus and elevated. Because it was in the middle, there was extra space for people to get on and off. The closest seats were a good two rows ahead of us. Then.....

we approach a tunnel that looked alot like this, but more narrow. Giovanni gets half way through the tunnel and all of a sudden we see in the front window trying to come to a complete stop, two cars. Brittany had the second row seat in the bus along with Todd and Tyler, Kylie slept through the whole thing. We came within inches, and as I am pulling out the brown bag to breath in, the cars simply out of the tunnel, we pull on through and that is the end of it. I told Todd I don't think blood pressure can take much more of Italian transportation of any form. We have yet to see an accident. I take that back, we did see one in Rome, but it was a little asian lady trying to park her rental van and she took out a roadside pole. Other than that, they are very good drivers. I am just glad we are sticking to public transportation.... I think.