Dealing with a few obstacles.

It was one of those days.  We did some chores around the house in the morning, and then finally decided to take a drive out into the countryside. First little problem: the car was not where we left it.

Our first theory proved correct -- the street where we had been parking for free had become a tow-away zone for Sunday's big calcio match (Pisa vs. Lucca).
The rental office, a short walk away, phoned around and found where it had been taken, and called us a taxi. A couple of stops later and 90 euro lighter, we were back in our BayerischeMotorenWerke cocoon.

Back at our apartment, the second little problem: I had left my camera case behind somewhere during the adventure.  The rental office? The pizzeria? The taxi?
Nancy called the rental office, they had it, we could pick it when they re-opened after pausa.

Then we're off again for dinner at Cousin Luanna's house.  Good food (my idiosyncratic preferences have been remembered) looking at Luciano's travel photos of Umbria, showing my painting portfolio, meeting 16-year-old Claudia's boyfriend...  Cousin Franchesca calls me on the house phone to say that she has lost the note I slipped under her door, could I give her our Italian cell numbers again, is the family lunch still on for Sunday? The kids go to bed, the adults stay up commiserating about their aches and pains, we're learning the words for "dog's paw," "gout," and "train engineer."  It's almost midnight when we leave, and everyone looks dead on their feet.

The victory: we got through all of this almost entirely speaking Italian - okay, more listening than speaking - and it was only late in the evening that our brains began pleading for mercy.