Laundromat in Favaro

We did a load of laundry in Rome, next to our favorite restaurant. It is Sunday and we arrive home on Tuesday and both Carol and I are desperate to wash clothes. Carol washed clothes in our cabin on the barge and barely got them dry by the end of the week. The humidity is so high! We were invited to hang them on the deck of the barge to dry ..... for all of Italy to see. Of course we saw all of Italy's laundry so I don't know why I care . . . But I could not hang my underwear, like flags, from the railing of the barge.

We asked the woman at our hotel where to do laundry. Walk into town (Tessera), take Bus 45 to the Commercial Center of the next town (Favaro), and find the Lavatrici.

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This morning we eat breakfast with Robin and Bjarne and walk them to their airport bus stop. They are on their way home to Sisters, Oregon. They moved to Sisters from Anchorage a week before we moved to Leesburg, Va.

On the way to the bus to Favaro I decide to approach the desk of the Best Western Hotel and plead for the privilege of using a washing machine. Nice try but no success. A nice man at the desk tells us to walk to the church in Tessera and turn down the narrow street next to the church to the Laundromat. We realize it may not be open on Sunday but we can easily walk back tomorrow. Of course, Italians have off most of Monday too. . . , 

We follow those directions and find no laundromat in Tessera. A resident tells us how to go to the Commercial Center in Favaro. We wait about 45 minutes for Bus 45. We get off the bus in Favaro but do not see much open on Sunday and do not see a laundromat. I ask a woman walking by. She motions to follow her and she leads us to the laundromat. Everything is in Italian and the coin changer does not work. Carol has baggies of detergent. We load 2 washers and enter every possible combination of coin in the slots with no results. A nice man tries to help but he mainly shakes his head 'no' at our coins. He speaks to another man who disappears and reappears with silver tokens. No one speaks English. We trade lots of money for silver tokens. Three silver tokens start the washing machine. Three silver tokens start the dryer.

And we wait while the dryer is going.

My Advice if you want to be an Independent Traveler

RECONSIDER BEING AN INDEPENDENT TRAVELER

 

MOST ITALIANS ARE FRIENLY AND VERY EAGER TO HELP

MOST ITALIANS DO NOT SPEAK ENGLISH

WATER DOES NOT COME WITH A MEAL IN RESTAURANTS. YOU PURCHASE YOUR WATER. 

WIFI - WHEN A HOTEL PROMISES WIFI DON T COUNT ON IT UNLESS YOU CLIMB ON THE ROOF

       OF THE HOTEL

AIR-CONDITIONING - WHEN A HOTEL PROMISES AIR CONDITIONED ROOMS, KNOW THAT YOU      

       MAY HAVE TO REQUEST THE CONTROL FOR THE AIR-CONDITIONER AND IN SEPTEMBER 

       SOME HOTELS TURN OFF ALL AIR CONDITIONING. BATHROOMS GENERALLY DO NOT HAVE     

       FANS OR AIR CONDITIONING.