Day 5 - The Great Escape

Today, when the alarm rang, we flew out of bed with gumption. We'd decided the exit from Caligiana would be quick and clean.

Last night, I'd spent hours loading what was ready into Croissant; the extremely heavy large suitcase (over 50kg in clothing squeezed back into it without the aid of the vacuum bags we'd used on the way over from the UK) was laid down on it's belly and pushed up the steep hill to the top like a sledge, the Urbo, the high chair that Fossy had given us in London, and the toys.

We finished last minute packing, emptied the bins, and I went up to fit the snow chains that Angelika had told us we could borrow. We intended on bringing them back on foot, but she told me to leave them hanging from a tree in a yellow bag for easy finding when she walked Amelie later - she was hugely trusting and resourceful in that way; something I really admired in her.

It took me an hour to fit just the first one, with a stupid schoolboy error of moving the car midway through, to make it easier. I managed to catch one of the links behind something important looking (the brake pipe?) and only managed to free it after much messing around. My fingers started to feel like my toes had when clearing the stone steps - i.e. not really attached any more.

Angelika appeared, and helped me fit the second, and finally, after another few trips up and down to the house, we were ready to set off.

The gate went back, we all said our goodbyes, and we slowly crept out onto the trackway. It was covered in sheet ice that glistened in the daylight. As we started to climb, we breathed a sigh of huge relief that it was over.

But alas, it wasn't.

100 meters along the track, we hit a steep incline, and this time, with the extra weight, the extra snow, and now the ice, Croissant would too fail where Fiat Pandas had before her. No matter what I did, she refused to climb, instead merely spinning, then digging her tyres into the gravel beneath the layer of ice, throwing it violently into the air. We reversed, and tried again, then again, and again. But we got no further.

Out came the spade, and Angelika fetched a larger one, and we all frantically dug in the snow. But again, it was a failure. Then we tried sticks under the wheels, and card too, but again, it wasn't to be.

Angelika suggested we abandon the car in the road, and return to hers. We could stay with her in the main house until the snow cleared, but in truth, that could be days if not weeks. I didn't really think it to be an option, knowing we were soon to run out of food, and more so, that Twinkle simply wanted to leave, no matter what - she (along with me) was broken by the house and situation. The neighbours tractor wouldn't start in the cold so there was no hope of being dragged up, and another neighbour with a Land Rover was out, and for who knew how long.

We returned to the main house, to call the European Breakdown Cover I have in place. They sadly told us we weren't covered for 'stuck on snow or ice' - it seemed we were trapped until the snow melted. A promise from Direct Line Insurance regarding a call from a local garage proved hollow, but after some lunch, a neighbour came to the door.

After a long drawn out conversation between him and Angelika in Italian, it turned out that he simply wanted the car moved so he could pass in his little car, down the hill. But he'd also suggested he could move ours up the hill. Angelika advised me not to let him as he was a little 'crazy', but on the walk up the hill to move it, he held his hand out. In a moment of madness, I simply handed the key over in the vague hope he'd be able to help.

He first attempted to enter Croissant from the left, assuming she was a continental car, but after a quick laugh, loaded himself into the drivers seat and proceeded to get stuck exactly as we had. My heart sank. But then he backed her up, and took a rather long run up.

With a push of pure determination, he managed somehow to pass where I'd been stuck, and continued onwards towards the much steeper icy section of road. I ran behind.

As he dodged in a zig zag fashion around the road looking for grip, I continued to try and keep up, and with me wheezing like Wheezy The Penguin from Toy Story, we finally reached the crest of the hill. As he opened the drivers door, I ran to him, and hugged him, and whilst we didn't speak a word of each others language, we jumped up and down like 6 year old children in a playground. I was over the moon, he was simply happy he'd succeeded.

It transpired that he had been driving in the area since the age of 4, and knew the roads very well. Crazy or not, he was our hero.

I ran all the way back down the hill to where Twinkle and Rhett, and Angelika were, and arms extended, I ran into the kitchen screaming 'He's done it, he's done it!!!' Twinkle looked amazingly happy.

And with that, we walked quickly back up the hill, Rhett in my arms sound asleep, Twinkle chasing behind, and behind her, a sad looking Angelika. We loaded back into the car, said our goodbyes again, and left. It was 3 hours after we'd initially tried to set off.

Our escape was complete, although in all honesty, we did feel very sad to be leaving.