Stephanie raved about her dear friend and bus driver, Dino two days before we even got to meet him. On the day we were heading to the Dolomites, we were met at our bus by a charming Italian who spoke very little English. He didn't need to speak English. He was adorable. Now, before you start thinking there was anything to worry about, Dino is married with two children. We could tell instantly that Stephanie adored Dino. I don't know how much farther it went than familial adoration but after a few days, it also didn't matter.
We rode across the Italian countryside in a large Mercedes touring bus. Dino had personalized it with key chains and trinkets either left behind by former tourists or given to him by people who had also grown fond of him on these long bus trips. After 15 days of traveling with him, the 21 of us had all adopted this goofy little Italian. He was wonderful. Big dimply smile and a scratchy sicilian voice, we loved him.
You could count on Dino to try and explain himself in American conversations and if he couldn't, he would call for "teacher", his pet name for Stephanie.
Bruce, of the Bruce and Renee' team on our tour, was a big fan of Jack Daniels and Coke. For some reason, Dino started calling Bruce "Jack". When he found out Bruce's name was really Bruce, it confused him. He was told it was a nickname. From then on he would introduce Bruce as "Bruce, nickname Jack" (with a thick Italian accent). I don't know that he ever remembered my name but he was always great to poke me in the ribs, squeeze my arm, and laugh at my translation app translating English phrases into Italian. I learned that the Google translate app was one to delete off of my phone. I also learned that calling an Italian a "dork" is not a nice thing to say. No problem!
Tonight we said goodbye to Dino. We had our dinner together and then Stephanie presented Dino with a card we had all signed and a bottle of wine. She had bought him a wooden Pinocchio (who is big here) to remind him of us. Ironically, one of the tour members, Michelle had also bought him a Pinocchio but smaller. He'll have it to hang in his bus. Bruce had put together money for Dino to do something in with his family since we had taken him away from them. I never got asked to contribute. I hope I wasn't supposed to. Anyway, Dino got teary-eyed and made a broken-English speech about how much fun he'd had and how much he admired Stephanie. I'm sure when I actually say goodbye to him in the morning as he drops us off in Rome, I'll get teary-eyed also. Dino was a huge part of this trip. If we'd had some old fart with no personality as our bus driver, I'm sure the journey would have been completely different. Dino added flair to our trip. Who else would have passed out Lemoncello on the bus wearing a "David" apron completely anatomically correct (that was an unexpected surprise). We could always count on him to make us smile or laugh. He was my favorite Italian.
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