This month, my Dad came to stay with us. We picked him up from the airport in Rome and then he was due to make his way back on the bus. This meant we needed to buy a bus ticket for him.

So one morning we headed into our nearest town of Guardiagrele to buy one for him.

First of all, we did the obvious thing, we went to the bus station where there is a hut with a kiosk inside it selling all types of magazines and newspapers. We went there and asked for a bus ticket from Chieti to Rome. The woman politely informed us that they did not sell bus tickets here but the bread shop at the top of town did. So we hauled ourselves to the top of town to the bread shop. We arrived at the bread shop thinking it was a strange place to sell bus tickets, but what the hey?

We asked for our bus ticket and the woman replied that they had ran out, but the bar across the piazza sold them. So off we went to the bar in the piazza. We arrived there and again asked for our bus ticket. We were told that they do sell bus tickets, but not that type of bus tickets. However, while we were there we noticed that they sold a nice selection of sweet wines in little mini barrels and we each ordered a different one. The Vin Santo was especially lovely but at 20% it was very strong. We chatted with the bartender and he apologised and sent us to the travel agents.

We arrived at the travel agents and they told us they could sell us a bus ticket to Rome. We sat down and gave her all the details, eventually Dads bus ticket was printed off and we were away.

On the way home and up the hill of old town Guardiagrele we spotted the small cantina. We were so worn out from all that walking and searching that we popped in for a bit of wine tasting. We all tried all the different varieties and ended up buying a lovely bottle of wine. We were all a bit sozzled but it was good fun.