Where in the world is Val?

Monday through Thursday of this week, I was on the road in Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany visiting some of the folks who produce foods we sell. Foods like balsamic vinegar , olive oil , and pasta . (More on those soon.) To reach the small towns where those producers are located, I rented a car. Before I left the US, I made a reservation to rent a cute little Smart Car. I chose it because it was small, and cheap, and, most importantly, it has an automatic transmission. I can't drive a stick shift. When we got to the car rental agency on Monday morning, the man at the counter told me that they had made a mistake. They didn't have any Smart cars. "You drive a manual?" he asked, hopefully. "No," was my emphatic reply. After a few minutes of searching his computer, he told me, "the only automatic we have is a Mercedes Vito." With a chuckle, he asked, "you know what it is?" Again, my reply was, "no." I know approximately nothi...