"car free adventure"
self designed & self supported bicycle tour adventures

Rental Car - “Car Adventures” 

Before we left the States I rented a car from Eurocar to take us to Pisa. I had reserved the car for the day we arrived in Italy. We were to collect our luggage, build our bikes and leave the bike boxes in Left Luggage. With no bikes that did not happen. 

We were stuck for at least one day and I did not need the car. I called Eurocar and told them my problem and would they move my reservation to the following day. They said no problem. 

After the second British Airlines flight arrived and we still did not have our bikes we decided we had better make our reservation. They closed shortly after the arrival of the last flight and we did not want to spend another night in Rome if the bikes arrived as we had been assured they would by the British Airways desk.

We made the reservation and paid for the car with a credit card but asked that they keep the car so we would not have to pay parking until our plane arrived. They said no problem. The plane arrives we build the bikes so we can put the bikes in "left Luggage" followed by the "what to do with bike box trauma" and the car rental is closing. 

My wife heads for the car rental while I am dragging our luggage along with two bikes to the car rental. When I get there she tells me she arrived after closing but one guy who was left finishing paperwork at first said no but after a bit of pleading gave her the keys to the car and a description of the general location where it was located and went home. We located the car loaded our stuff, figured out how to open the exit from the rental car lot and were off to Vezzano Ligure where the agratourismo was located we had rented a room form for that night. 

When I made the reservation in the States I was driving the car to Piza and returning it there. With the British Airways 36 hour "bicycle no show" episode at the Fuimicino Airport we decided to keep the car to site see in Cinque Terre. Then we decided to keep the car until we reached Florence. We had not fully recovered from the loss of sleep during our vigil at the airport. 

I called Eurocar and told them I wanted to return the car in Florence. They said fine. We asked that the three of us be added as drivers and they said they could do it over the phone. My experience had been with rental cars in the States that you had to show them your license to be added as a driver. But what the hey! This is Europe. It helped us out a lot. 

Other bicycle experiences are posted on the Italy "journal" page