What do these two images have in common?
Correct, in both cases the car on the left is white :). All joking aside, it is not unusual at all to see two cars parked like this in Italy. Space is limited on the streets and sometimes it is truly a miracle to find a spot where you can park your car. For this reason Italians have been compelled to refine their driving skills. Believe it or not, Italians are great drivers.
You may already know that I have a passion for old Fiat 500s, but when it comes to the due ruote (two wheels) the old Vespa (in English Wasp) is for me and will always be the one and only. I have many memories linked to it, even though I never, ever drove it. Can you believe it? An Italian who loves the Vespa and never drove it? Now I do feel down. I need a spoon of Nutella to cheer me up…
On September 2nd we landed in Venice as usual, and, as usual, the car trip from the airport to my hometown, Trieste, was for me more nerve wracking than the one in the airplane crossing the Ocean. Even though I’m Italian, and I should be used to the Italian way of driving, I’m just freaking out when cars approach you from behind and drive at only a few feet from your rear bumper.
Luckily this time things went differently. My father, who came to pick us up at the airport, was suffering some discomfort to his leg and asked me to drive. And I did drive… very slowly. So slowly that he was starting getting upset and asked me if we would have made it to Trieste by dawn (it was 9pm, in case you were wondering…).
However, one thing that really made me think is how much harder it is for me to park my car in Italy. In the States, the biggest effort I have to make is to lift my finger to press the garage remote control installed in my vehicle. But here, well, see it yourself:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvGo4JufcoI&feature=youtu.be
Obviously, this is not a car with automatic transmission, it has the clutch, which is probably half its size after this parking attempt…