Ants on the bus

This photo was taken in Norway, but it does contain ants...

On one of the many foreign trips I have done driving my coach, I went to Italy with an agrarian themed trip. Visiting a radish farm, a mozzarella farm and a pecorino farm were the farming ends of the journey, but there were also the more touristy things. And one day, my coach rolled in to Rome. 

I drove up to the hotel and as soon as everybody was off, a porter in a clapped out car (that's how I remember it), told me to follow him to where I could park the coach. I followed him left. I followed him right. I followed him for miles and miles and I was starting to get worried. And the worry didn't ease when he drove unto a court filled with really clapped out cars and a rickety gate. Please park and I will take you back to the hotel.

Not this car, although I do love it

So, I parked, got my stuff together and got in that clapped out car. We then drove back to the hotel (oh yes) and the next morning he drove me back to the parking court yard to collect my coach. This went on for several days. But all good things must come to an end however and on the last morning, he drove me to the parking court yard. The night before I had been told to park it in a slightly different place than the other days and that had been an error.

Apparently I had parked one of the wheels right on top of an ants nest. Ants being ants, they then decided to get up that wheel, just in case there was something edible at the top. Not finding anything edible there, they proceeded up the axel, further and further in to the coach...

By the time we arrived in Florence (several hours' drive), a fair few people had taken a look and reported on an abundance of ants in the toilet area. The passengers would have a few hours of sight-seeing in Florence, I would have a few hours of hunting down ant traps. Fortunately there were some smaller shops even in the center of the city that sold those things.

However, the large number of ants would soon deal with the two ant traps I had gotten. And as we hit the road again after lunch to do some sight-seeing in Siena, I contemplated my options. Of which there were precious few. So far, the ants had kept themselves to one area mainly, but there were already a few daredevils that had ventured further afield. 

After arriving in a large car and coach park in Siena, there was only one real option open: clean the toilet area from top to bottom. With what though? Yes, there was water and I did have some cleaning stuff, but this needed a bit more bite and force. And then I spotted it: the hose pipe used to wash coaches. I was going to have to flush them out! 

I started the coach and drove a couple of meters further forward, so the hose could come straight through the back door. I got the hose, I opened the door and let rip! The ants never stood a chance, as one by one they went down the plughole and onto the tarmac of that Siena car park. Once they were all gone, I gave the toilet another good going over, this time using some kind of cleaning agent as well. 

When we left Siena that day, there was an occasional 'I've got another one' from the back of the coach, but really? They were toast...