Hello again loyal readers! Well, as suspected in my last post, the Italian government is ratcheting back on activity throughout the country. I mentioned before that here in Piemonte we would be in a so-called "red zone" along with Lombardia (Milan) and Campania (Naples), and that designation may spread to other areas very soon.
The government updated us that this level of restriction will last until at least December 4; fingers crossed we make some progress by then. Meanwhile, my school decided to go to remote instruction for grades 7-12. So I go to school every day, but only see a smattering of kids (btw, a "smattering of kids" is like a "gaggle of geese," only noisier and smellier).
Now on to a fascinating topic for anyone who has ever spent time in Europe—driving! I have been wanting to write about this for a while, and I was inspired when I was re-reading a fantastic passage on the subject, from a book that Barbara and I highly recommend if you've ever considered moving here...Living Abroad: Italy, by John Moretti. So let me try to explain this quintessential aspect of life here in Italy, that is often equal parts exhilarating and confounding—sulla strada in Italia (loosely, "on the road in Italy").
I. Buying a Car: The Panda!
"Parking is nearly impossible in downtown areas" "Gasoline costs four times what it does in the United States"
We decided early on that we would need a car here, but given the narrow roads, the small and scarce parking spaces, and the cost of 'benzina' (gas). it would have to be a small one. Fortunately a departing math teacher was happy to sell us his 2012 Fiat Panda for a reasonable price. Turns out the car has been in the IST math department since it rolled off the lot 2012; in fact I am the fourth IST math teacher to own it!
The Panda is one of the most popular cars in all of Italy—you see it everywhere. It's like the Honda Accord of Italian cars (if the Honda Accord was smaller, had a less powerful engine, and looked like a boxy mini-SUV that had been left in the drier too long). They've been making them forever; our model appears to have been made outside Naples. It's perfect for our needs, even if it's hard to find it in a parking lot (see below)!
(Left) Uh oh, wait, which Black Panda is ours?
(Right) Oh it's the one with the bird in the windshield
In a country with a limited number of large global manufacturing companies, there's a lot of (deserved) pride in the Fiat (now FiatChrysler) brand and its products. Fun fact: Founded in 1899 by Italian business legend Giovanni Agnelli, Fiat was at one time the third largest car manufacturer in the world (behind GM and Ford). The Panda is one of Fiat's more durable models; someone lovingly referred to it as a "tank"—it's sturdy, reliable, doesn't have a lot of bells and whistles...and doesn't go very fast.
But smaller cars with smaller engines are pretty typical here, so It only feels slow when we get up on the l'autostrada. (See Part III).
The Panda can be a quirky beast—while it rarely requires maintenance, when it does...it can seem a little over the top. Recently, we needed to replace a bulb in the taillight—a simple enough task—and the mechanic actually had to put the car on a small lift to do it. It only cost €20 euros, but seriously, you had to get under the car?
II. Italian Roads
"Driving your car along the country's oleander-lined thoroughfares and winding rural
roads can be so pleasant that you'll feel as if you're part of a luxury car commercial"
Ah the roads: The quality of Italian roads range from the sublime—immaculate, smooth autostrada on which you can safely and confidently go 90 mph...to the ridiculous—badly neglected state roads that will rattle your bones and loosen your fillings. Actually, it may be unfair to say the roads are neglected—if anything they are OVER-"maintained"; there's so much tearing up and patching of the local roads (jobs program?) that they would probably be better off left on their own.
(l) Lovely stretch of highway (r) another day, another torn up road (they found Roman ruins!)
As pleasant as the highways are, pulling off the road is not unpleasant too. There are regularly-positioned rest stops with the two most important things: Good coffee and clean bathrooms. Plus, you can stock up on local specialties of really good food and wine. We've also seen several rest stops with multiple electric car charging stations.
(l) Top-notch wines at the rest stop (r) electric car charging stations
And of course, no discussion of Italian roads would be complete without an ode to...the roundabout! In the U.S., people either love 'em or hate 'em, but here in Europe we love them. They are everywhere—and rightly so. I'm a big fan, roundabouts keep traffic moving, reduce gas consumption and emissions, and make intersections safer (because everyone briefly slows down; you have to in order to get around the circle!).
III. Buckle Up: Time to Get Behind the Wheel
"The streets are the only place in the country where people seem to be in a hurry"
"The same people who casually show up late for a dinner reservation will tailgate, pass in the face of oncoming traffic, and lean on the horn the second the light turns green"
Moretti says it so well—the drivers in this lovely country—a country that is so casual about deadlines and commitments*— will lose their you-know-what if you get in their way. I used to think I was a pretty aggressive driver, but I am a lamb among wolves on Italy's highways. We learned very quickly that super-aggressive driving is standard practice here, and not to take offense when a driver comes bearing down on you on the highway. They will literally get up within a car length of you, flash their lights, and then blast out around you—as Michael says in The Godfather, "it's nothing personal, it's just business!" Check out the picture above—it's hard to get a photo of this while you're going 75 mph, but this truck is bearing down on us at about 90, and we're not even in the left lane!
Of course, most of my driving is to and from school, so it's an easy 3 mile, 7-minute ride. But these are the 7 most focused minutes I have ever spent behind a steering wheel. Between the jolting speed humps, the gashed roads (how many times do they need to repair the sewers?), and the pedestrian crosswalks, it's an obstacle course to get through every morning.
Add in the scooters, ladies with babies, old folks shuffling across the street, delivery guys who park basically wherever they want (sometimes perpendicular to the curb!), and postal workers and street sweepers and...it's like a malevolent version of Richard Scarry's beloved Busytown street scenes. All that's missing is Lowly Worm to bring things to a complete halt! And by the way, can we pause for a second to recognize the genius of Richard Scarry putting a worm in an apple car!
But as hectic as it is, I must say driving here is very safe:
You have got to be on your toes at all times—between driving a manual transmission and all of the potential hazards/obstacles you will encounter, you wouldn't even think about whipping out your phone in the middle of this daily gauntlet.
Getting a driver's license here is an intense, almost-impossible process. you have to pass a "theory" exam and a "practical" exam. And oh by the way, the theory exam is in Italian...Barbara is working on it (taking a course with a bunch of high school kids), but it is based on an arcane set of minutiae involving engine sizes and obscure road signs so it will be tough to get that license!
Kids can't even start to drive until they are 16, and then they can only a tiny, smaller-engine car until they turn 18, and then—hold your breath—they let them drive an intermediate vehicle like a little Panda!
The police alternate between a hands-off attitude on most highways, but they love to pull over random drivers on surface roads, often for no discernible reason. I live in fear of being randomly pulled over by a lollipop-wielding carabinieri; often they are strapped with submachine guns, although they say they are terribly polite!
I'll leave you with this video of a wild ride we took along the Ligurian Coast just before we were locked down. On the way to an idyllic seaside town called Moneglia, we had to drive on this one-way road through this tunnel for several kilometers, when we emerged on the other side we realized we had been snaking along the coast the whole time!
I hope you have enjoyed this ride through the streets of Italy, and hope you have chance to experience them someday! The journey and the destination are both worth the effort...
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* The first to message me with the song for this lost lyric gets a bottle of Italian wine (someday): "deadlines and commitments..."