When my daughter Emily was a little girl and she would make a mistake, or accidentally break something, she would look at me with the cutest smile and say "Oopsy". I remembered this when we went for a day adventure together and what started off as wonderful went very wrong.
With Emily coming to enjoy the holiday season with me I asked her what she really wanted to do this trip. Of all the things she could do she wanted to go to a World War II museum. Great, I thought, as I love history - particularly World War II history. Yes, we are history geeks. I found two museums; one on the outskirts of Bologna and the other in a little town in the countryside in Castel del Rio. I called both museums confirming their opening hours. I was not sure how we would get to the one museum in the countryside, but fortunately the museum Director told me that if we took the train to the closet town he would pick us up and take us to the museum. We were all set for our "geek" day of adventure.
The Museo Memoriale della Liberta is located on the very outskirts of Bologna. We had to take a train from Florence and then a bus. Once arriving at a particular bus stop the museum Director then talked us through how to walk to the museum through a Polish memorial cemetery and down a long lane lined with trees. It was not until we arrived that we realized that the 88 year old Director and owner of the museum, Edo, actually opened up the museum just for us. He said in the winter he does not get many visitors venturing his way. In perfect English he told us how he fought as a patriot during World War II and what life was like for his family at the time. Over the course of 60 years he has collected artifacts from the war ranging from uniforms to guns to vehicles, which he stores in an airplane hanger. Almost every country that participated in the war is represented in his collection, including Canada. One hanger housed historically accurate life size dioramas. Emily and I stepped into a bomb shelter, and were able to get a sense of what life was like for those who had to live days in the protection of the shelter. Emily and I were amazed that one man could amass such a collection, and exhibit it in such an educationally and emotionally rich way. After experiencing the museum, and it truly is an experience, Edo showed us a film that he took on the day of liberation. Through his eyes we are able to see the day that freedom returned to Bologna, and the destruction that was left in the aftermath of the war. Edo then offered to drive us to a nearby train station that would take us to the town near the next museum that we wanted to go to. Emily and I looked at each other, surprised by his kindness and willingness to go out of his way. First Edo opened up the museum just for us, and then he drove us to the train station
I had talked earlier to the Director of the Museo della Guerra when we first arrived in Bologna. As he was occupied during the day he suggested that we meet him at 6:30 pm at the train station, then he would drive us to the museum and then take us back to the train station. There was no other way to get to the museum as no buses went to the very small town of Castel del Rio, so to say that I was grateful for his kindness was an understatement. Again, I could not believe that someone would go so much out of their way. I jokingly said to Emily that it was all too good to be true. I think that was the moment when I jinxed us.
When Alberto picked us up we learned that he was the Mayor of Castel del Rio. I assumed he would be driving us 10-15 minutes to the museum, but it was closer to 45 minutes. Apologizing for the heat not being on in the museum, which is located in a medieval castle, Alberto gave us a private tour of the museum sharing with us the history of the Gothic line, which ran through the nearby mountains. I tried to give him money for his time and gas, but he would not have it. He told me that in the winter he is delighted to have visitors as he was lucky to see 6 or 7 in the winter months. We were his first Canadians, and soon to be his most unforgettable Canadians he would meet. Just like the other museum, the collection from incredible. Between the two museums our "history geekness" was satisfied.
Then Alberto checked the train times for our return back to Florence. I assumed when he suggested a time for us to go to the museum that as a "local" he was aware of the train times between Bologna and Florence. I also assumed that given that Bologna is a big city there would be regular trains running until 11 or 12 pm. It did not even cross my mind that we may have difficulty getting home. In the typical Italian way of not really sweating a problem, Alberto broke the news to me that there was no way we would make the last train back to Florence - 9:15 pm. We were stranded an hour away from Florence in the middle of the countryside, and the dogs were at home. Alberto suggested that we go get a glass of wine to try and figure out a plan. I explained that we had to get home to the dogs. We entered a small town bar full of Italian men who had clearly been there a while enjoying both wine and the soccer game. Emily whispered in my ear, "Do not leave me here alone for a minute". Alberto reassured us that he would stay with us until we found a way home. He called a driver that he knew to see if he would drive us to Florence, but because of the hour, close to 10pm by now, he did not want to. I then called friends in Florence to put on their thinking caps for a way for us to get home. One friend was at a function that he could not leave for two hours, but said he would then come for us if we were still stranded. As I frantically placed calls back and forth with friends my cell phone began to die. I scrambled to write down telephone numbers before it died as Alberto offered to let me use his phone if mine shut off, which it did. And he bought me another glass of wine, saying that I looked like I needed it. I didn't know whether to cry, throw up or laugh at Emily and I getting stranded on our museum adventure. Finally a friend was able to arrange a driver to come get us and take us back to Florence. Safely on our way home Emily spoke up from the backseat, "At least the museums were really interesting". We can chuckle about it now, although at the time positive thinking was not something that I was embracing.
250 euro later, and two hours of driving through such thick fog that you could not see past the front of the car (it should have only been an hour drive), we made it back home to the dogs at 1 am. We were so tired and hungry. Walking home the day was put into perspective though when we passed a homeless man sleeping on the street. Suddenly our day did not look so bad. It was Emily who suggested that we heat him up some homemade soup that I had in the fridge and take it to him to warm him up on the cold winter night. His eyes lit up with our kindness. Yes this day was a big "oopsy" day, but it started with two men going out of their way to be kind to us, and in the end it came full circle with us being kind to a homeless man. Emily and I cuddled in bed chuckling about our adventure gone wrong, but feeling good that we were able to return kindness with kindness.
