Italian drivers have such a bad reputation. They are apparently impatient, aggressive and not particularly friendly. I've never driven on the right hand side of the road before so was feeling rather nervous.
There were three of us who could drive, but sadly a lost contact lens ruled one out! Nerves took over another so I became the sole driver. Picking up our rental car at the airport in Napoli was pretty straightforward, but sadly our navigation skills didn't lend themselves to maintaining this ease. We ended up in Central Napoli, something we'd really tried to avoid as knew how mental it was. Nairobi has prepped me well and I found it fine.....though roundabouts always involved a stationary start and conscious thought of which way to go, who to give way to and as always, to stay right!!
I was relieved when we were on the road to Vesuvius and although I kept trying to change gear by hitting the car door, the driving wasn't as bad as I'd dreaded. That is until we left Pompeii and it was dark.....on the twisty, narrow roads of the coastal Amalfi road. Slow and steady.....I was so cautious and hated it! I couldn't believe the speed that some cars darted around and were so reckless! It was hard going but I did it!
Confidence and daylight helped a lot over the next couple of days. I was still very careful but could leave second and even third gear at times! The roads were so beautiful, though my eyes were pretty much always glued to the tarmac ahead!
One morning we were met by a long string of Ferraris....yes, beautiful cars, but oh my, so wide!!! It was hard enough passing normal cars! It seemed we were near a big company that hired them out for a few hours. We passed so many! Not my favourite part of the trip! I did think how much my brothers would have loved that particular part of sightseeing though!
So yes, Italian drivers do have a bad reputation, and in some ways I would agree. Though we also met many friendly, amorous drivers who blew kisses, let us out, and one very kind motorcyclist who guided us back to the airport when we'd got horribly confused trying to find it on our way back. I was very happy to give the car back, though would definitely drive again.
There were three of us who could drive, but sadly a lost contact lens ruled one out! Nerves took over another so I became the sole driver. Picking up our rental car at the airport in Napoli was pretty straightforward, but sadly our navigation skills didn't lend themselves to maintaining this ease. We ended up in Central Napoli, something we'd really tried to avoid as knew how mental it was. Nairobi has prepped me well and I found it fine.....though roundabouts always involved a stationary start and conscious thought of which way to go, who to give way to and as always, to stay right!!
I was relieved when we were on the road to Vesuvius and although I kept trying to change gear by hitting the car door, the driving wasn't as bad as I'd dreaded. That is until we left Pompeii and it was dark.....on the twisty, narrow roads of the coastal Amalfi road. Slow and steady.....I was so cautious and hated it! I couldn't believe the speed that some cars darted around and were so reckless! It was hard going but I did it!
Confidence and daylight helped a lot over the next couple of days. I was still very careful but could leave second and even third gear at times! The roads were so beautiful, though my eyes were pretty much always glued to the tarmac ahead!
One morning we were met by a long string of Ferraris....yes, beautiful cars, but oh my, so wide!!! It was hard enough passing normal cars! It seemed we were near a big company that hired them out for a few hours. We passed so many! Not my favourite part of the trip! I did think how much my brothers would have loved that particular part of sightseeing though!
So yes, Italian drivers do have a bad reputation, and in some ways I would agree. Though we also met many friendly, amorous drivers who blew kisses, let us out, and one very kind motorcyclist who guided us back to the airport when we'd got horribly confused trying to find it on our way back. I was very happy to give the car back, though would definitely drive again.
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