Boh!

Here we are sitting in the parking lot in Cortona on the tailgate of the "macchina," which was "guasto" and we were waiting for the tow truck to arrive. 

So we had a great day then the car just wouldn't start. We called the roadside assistance number for Hertz and told them about our problem, which we believed to be a dead battery. The woman dispatched a tow truck that came very quickly. In the interim, we reminisced about the day in Umbria when our car was completely guasto and a tow truck came and took it away--leaving us on the rainy sidewalk with our luggage and no way to get another car. Now that was a bad day!

Anyway, this driver took the keys and got in the car. He turned it on. It started. "Come la facevi?" I asked him with incredulity on my face. He waved his hands across the dashboard like Merlin: "É magia," mi dica. 

Well, not sure I buy the magic stuff, but whatever dust this guy was sprinkling it was worth a 10€ tip and we were back on the road.