After almost two months here, I finally got my car! Driving in Italy after not driving for this period makes me feel like I completely forgot how to drive sometimes! 1. Stop and yield signs are only suggestions for Italian nationals. And they usually dont take the suggestion. Stop actually means something along the lines of speed up as much as you can to avoid that car driving toward you. 2. Super small cars built in 1979 do not accelerate well going up a hill. Combined with #1, this makes for a lot of slamming on the brakes. 3. Parking spaces were meant for smart cars. Definitely not American SUVs. I swear I used to be able to parallel park. I can barely pull straight into a space here. Forget about having enough room to get a kid out of a car seat in the back. 4. Roads are about exactly as wide as they need to be... For two small cars to pass comfortably in opposite directions. Unfortunately, small cars arent the only obstacle. Town busses here are huge take your grandma to Atlantic City style tour busses. 5. Road cycling is a way of life here. And they cycle everywhere. Including the exact spot where you have to pass one of those huge busses with a madman going 80 behind you. 6. Speed limits are also suggestions, completely ignored by Italians. Or, they dont realize that their speeds are listed in kilometers and theyre all going 70 mph instead. On narrow roads. With cyclists. And no shoulder. 7. Increase your following distance during periods of rain and fog doesnt translate to Italian. Essentially, it buys you 12 off your rear bumper as opposed to the standard 4. 8. Italians do actually take driving seriously. You see very few eating/drinking/using phones while driving. In contrast, people on bicycles are extremely talented individuals. Ive witnessed biking with eating, smoking, and texting... Simultaneously. Theyre absolutely insane, and a huge road hazard. 9. Much like roads, garage doors about about 6 wider than an SUV. Which leaves exactly no wiggle room when backing into a garage at the end of a curved driveway at the bottom of a hill. I expect to lose a mirror one day when I really have to pee. 10. Italy is way too awesome to sit home all day! So, prepare yourselves for tales of heart attacks as I try to somehow blend into this culture of Mini Coopers in my Pathfinder!
Posted on: Mon, 04 Aug 2014 05:28:38 +0000
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