Driving in Italy and the Italian Autostrade

Many foreigners get on the Italian Autostrade (what Americans would call Interstate) and they aren't totally prepared for the experience. Personally, I've not had any huge issues driving on the Autostrade but my experience has been mostly in the Northern part of the country and I've never driven south of Rome which from what I'm told is an even more extreme experience.

The first thing to understand is that despite what many say, the Italians are actually excellent drivers and they take driving VERY seriously whether on the Autostrade or driving anywhere else. You don't see nearly as many fender benders and silly accidents in this country as we see in the United States which is a good thing. You will experience tailgating, ridiculous passing maneuvers, and smaller margins for merging however, if you take driving seriously like I do, it can overall be an refreshing and liberating experience. I see Italians as a very patient and understanding people until they get behind the wheel. They then become seemingly obsessed with getting where they are going and are good at doing so. They are great parkers as well and will come up with some really creative parking spots not visible to the non-Italian eye.

On the Autostrade you normally have to pay tolls and you get your ticket on the way in. As you merge be prepared for VERY small acceleration and merging lanes. They are almost always really small. The right lane is normally filled with the trucks which usually have a max speed of somewhere in the neighborhood of 80-90 KMH (around 55 MPH). If your driving around the speed limit which is usually set at 130kph (80mph) figure on staying in the center lane. If you need to pass somebody you'll want to ALWAYS pass on the left. I know in the states we have this bad habit of passing on the right or hanging out in the left lane going slower than other traffic but in Italy you simply don't pass in the right and you'll rarely see it. Keep the tradition going and get out of the way! Once you've passed someone get out of the left lane immediately and carry on. Often you will have someone come up behind you out of nowhere as your trying to pass someone. They will usually flash their lights at you trying to get you to move over. I have definitely been really frustrated about this but its just the way it is. Prepare to be blinded by flashing high beams at night or don't pass until no one is around. You will see people traveling at 150-160 mph occasionally in that left lane and they have zero patience for waiting on someone traveling the speed limit. It's ridiculous but best you just go with the flow and not get frustrated. They also have a terrible habit of passing you on the left and then moving in front of you leaving almost no room. Don't increase your speed as someone's passing you or you may unwillingly be performing the pit maneuver. It will literally scare you half to death and make you think they're going to crash into you but just keep your cool. They actually expect you to use the far right of your lane as they are passing you as well so they can have more space and often utilizing part of two lanes, provided there are no other vehicles in the lane next to you. I don't really understand this but they do and just because they are good drivers does not mean everything they do makes sense.

Another thing to remember is watching your speed on the Autostrade. They typically use Speed Cameras and probably 99.9% of speeding violations are as a result of the camera. The good news is that they actually warn you ahead of time before you pass one, so if your paying attention you'll know its coming. Be careful though because some Autostrade's have many of them. They have cameras on the smaller roads as well and they too have warnings ahead of time. I wouldn't recommend speeding but it never hurts to know about it. Recently they've introduced the speed tutor system which clocks your speed at several cameras tracking you along the way. Arrive at a camera going the speed limit but well before your due to arrive and they'll know you've been speeding. It's apparently very controversial though and I've had a few Italians tell me you can go upwards to 150 kmh without worry but don't count on it!

I've logged thousands of miles on the Italian Autostrade and with so many foreign people (like myself) driving, nothing is completely certain. You'll encounter many drivers from many other countries on the Autostrade so be prepared. I can only suggest being patient and also being confident and making it known what your doing. If you are trying to merge into traffic don't be polite. As long as your not going to cause an accident or kill anyone get in there! Overall its not like driving in India or anything and for the high speeds involved its remarkably safe.

One other thing . . . Don't drink in drive in Italy! The legal limit is 0.05% and if your caught you'll serve 10 days in jail or pay a 20,000 euro fine. They aren't kidding around!

Driving The French Riviera

My friend and I set out on a Friday morning for France after renting a Fiat Panda here in Vicenza. While I've always heard of the French Riviera I was simply not prepared for the sheer beauty of just about everything we ended up seeing. It was a good 6 hours but we crossed over into France in around 6 hours. I thought it was odd that unlike the Italian-Austrian border the Italian-French border had very little warning about entering a new country. When traveling to Austria the signs begin to be in German around 100 miles before you actually get to the border. There we're also signs pointing you in that direction as well. The French border suddenly sneaks up on you. None of Italy's borders except for Croatia, have border controls however so its a bit uneventful no matter where you cross. Cinque Terre is a beautiful part of Italy that straddles the coast of the Mediterranean and will certainly leave you in awe of its ocean view vineyards and towns hovering on the edge of its cliffs. For whatever reason the French Riviera which pretty much connects this part of Italy seems to give you more in terms of beauty. I would describe some parts of it like Arizona except with vegetation. The views even from the highway we're simply stunning. Unlike much of Italy, the French have not jammed all of their highway corridors with industrial centers and have somehow figured out ways to hide them better, making for some spectacular (and unexpected) views just from the car windows. Cliffs hover above the road and while there are hill towns, vineyards and even some industrial zones, it definitely was on a smaller scale than in Italy, and the land seemed more untouched. While Italy is about as beautiful place you will ever see, this part of France in my opinion had it beat albeit not by a large margin. France clearly has a lower population density and this seemed to really open up scenery without too much interference from power lines, radio towers and smokestacks.

Our first stop ironically was not in France but in Monaco which is not very far from the Italian border actually. I have to say the first glimpse you get of Monaco is simply amazing. I've never been to Hong Kong but it almost reminded me of pictures with its high buildings right on the water. Monaco was about the cleanest city I have ever visited in my life. There was literally not a spec of trash to be found anywhere and you felt like you could eat right off the sidewalk. The waterfront was gorgeous and while there we're a lot of really high buildings the main city center practiced the same moderation you would see in most European city centers. You won't come to Monaco to see a lot of history but the Prince's Palace on top of the hill was great with some of the best views of the city looking down. No visit here is complete without a visit to the Monte Carlo Casino or at least outside people watching. There we're so many Bentley's and Ferrari's parked or driving around that it became ordinary which is something I've never really experienced. Monaco is certainly a playground for the wealthy. We then went on to Nice which was nice, and yet again another beautiful waterfront city. The new and old city center have their own positives, and a walk at dusk along the water is a perfect way to end your day of sightseeing. Nice was also extremely clean and well maintained. We walked up the many steps to the overlook near Chateux de Nice and watched the sunset over the water.

The next morning we went to see the famous Ponte du gard Roman Aqueduct near the town of Remoulins. It was an amazing and imposing structure that doesn't look nearly as large in pictures as it did in person. It's surrounded by a river and forests and seems to hide itself until the last moment after you've parked and paid for admission. It was great and is really a wonder of the world and also of course its a Unesco site. The only downside was that the very top was not open like it has been in the past and we hiked all the way up several stories to find that out. The view from up top makes up for it and there we're also trails all around that would enable you to spend an afternoon enjoying the surrounding nature. We visited numerous towns (too many to even mention) and while none of them we're actually not worth visiting, I felt like Arles was somewhat disappointing. While surely its another beautiful French town it seems to have overreached slightly on its courtship of tourists and while it boasted a terrific Colosseum the multiple museum and historical site pass we got there left just a little to be desired. Not to mention after visiting so many French towns your standards are going to be pretty high. I wouldn't suggest not going there, but it didn't seem to live up to its reputation as a "go to" city. Avignon was a nice place and we scored a terrific place to stay there at the last minute when our YMCA bid didn't pan out as expected (they weren't open at 5pm and we didn't feel like going back just to check in). We stayed at a place just across the bridge to the city center that looked like a campground but with rooms as well and it was perfect. The city of Avignon was beautiful and the former Catholic Church headquarters we're really interesting. The city is a little dull at night and there are very few people around. Finding something to eat other than tourist food was not easy and was actual a fail but we did score a good kabob. The last city I would need to mention is of course Marseille. Driving into Marseille is a bit traumatic at times and the city is much bigger than I think most people actually realize (metro pop 2 million). It has a huge immigrant population and is definitely a good place to find a variety of food. While it used to be a really dangerous city, things have been cleaned up apparently over the years and I did not feel unsafe there. On the other hand many parts of the city we're filthy with broken beer glasses everywhere. The night we stayed there we walked out of our hotel room (near the train station and not the best of neighborhoods) and there was a rally of some sort with flags of a nation I didn't recognize and huge bonfire right in the plaza. I am surprised at the lengths cities are willing to go to try to embrace other cultures sometimes but its not such a bad thing. The city doesn't offer a whole lot of sightseeing opportunities and even the nice old man that stopped and asked us if we needed help pretty much made that fact be known. We appreciated his honesty. We mainly stayed around the waterfront.

Probably my highlight of the entire trip was the trip home. We steered completely clear of the freeway and took the coastal routes hugging the jagged cliffs along the water. It was really something else and worth the few extra hours of time it took. The water is so blue and so clear its hard to even describe. I can't even imagine how spectacular it must be in the Spring or Summer when its even more green with flowers dotting the landscape. We drive all the way to Monaco from Marseilles along the coast stopping a few times to enjoy view. The best lunch I had the whole trip was actually a subway sandwich on a small beach sitting on a rock overlooking the water (note the picture above taken by my friend John). The best Subway sandwich I've ever had. If your looking for a Paris alternative in France you have to consider the Riviera and the Bruxelles region.

The best things . . . scenery and nature, friendly people

The not so great things . . . . Expensive tolls on the freeways

Vicenza: The city of Palladio and where I live

pop 115,000 dates back to 157 B.C.
Vicenza, located less than an hour west of Venice between Padova and Verona is a definite treasure hidden among the many popular destinations of the Veneto region of Italy. I've lived in Vicenza for over a year and a half and not only has it inspired me with its beauty and impressive architecture (thanks to the legendary architetto Andrea Palladio), but its been a great launching pad for accessing several other countries and the Alps.

A Unesco World Heritage Site, Vicenza is a great place to escape the furious tourist scene found in nearby cities like Venice and Verona and still find treasures around every corner. It's main street (Corso Palladio) is lined with beautiful buildings and is a perfect place to start your exploration of the city. The street stretches from the Southwest at Piazza Castello and proceeds in a Northeast direction ending at Teatro Olimpico and Palazzo Chiericati. Lots of shopping and usually a heavy local crowd can be found on Corso Palladio, especially in the early evening. You'll definitely want to veer off of Corso Palladio a few times with the Duomo (near the southwest end) and most importantly Piazza Dei Signori which is the heart and arguably the most beautiful and scenic part of the city. Its anchored by the magnificent Basilica Palladiana and also home to the clock tower. People watching, while sipping a spritz in Piazza Dei Signori is not that expensive and is a must do. A block or two further south past Piazza Dei Signori on Ponte San Michele is the picturesque "Love Bridge" (the name speaks for itself)running across the river and is pedestrian only. Back along Corso Palladio you'll finally end up at the oldest enclosed theater in the world, Teatro Olimpico, built in 1580. For less than 10 euros you can tour the theater and a host of other museums around the city.

Just outside of the city center is the most famous of Palladio's buildings "la Rotunda" located on Viale Rivera Berica. If you up for walking some, a very rewarding experience would be to follow the main road from the train station (turn right as your walking out of the station) and proceed by keeping right until you reach a big roundabout and a huge gate with a very tall set of steps. The steps lead to Monte Berico, a beautiful church on the top of the hill overlooking the city. If you prefer you can also take a bus from the train station, buy your ticket at the Tobacco shop inside the station or at the little machine just outside where you board the bus. Just look for the bus that says Monte Berico on it. Monte Berico is a fantastic way to see Vicenza from above, and you can continuing walking down the hill on the other side and run into the "Rotunda" which should look very familiar to Americans as many of our buildings we're designed based on this one. Its one of the most significant and important buildings in the world. You can tour it, but only during the summer.

Vicenza is a great city and its worth a day and an overnight stay to take it in. I would recommend arriving around lunchtime and staying overnight. You should be able to see the bulk of the city in this time.

Places to eat:

Pizzeria Vesuvio
Corso Andrea Palladio, 204 Vicenza
Great pizza, inexpensive and in a perfect location

Spaghetteria Al Fiore
Borgo Berga 15 Vicenza
Just outside the City Center on the road to la Rotunda. Lots of pasta choices here

Tutti Gelato
Contra Fraschi Del Gambero
Just steps from Piazza Dei Signori its known by everyone that lives in Vicenza as the best place for gelato. They aren't open late usually but hopefully in the summer that will change.

Places you may want to avoid:
Be careful around the train station at night especially. There have also been some issues at Campo Marzo (big park across from the station) at night time. During the day there is very little to worry about anywhere and Vicenza is overall a very safe city.