So, remember what I said in my last Notes From Italy installment?
Italians make hanging out, leisurely, look so utterly, authentically, natural, in a way that Americans only wish we could…
There was one glaring exception to this characterization of Italians as Zen-like artists of leisure, but you’ll have to wait for Vol. 2 of Notes From Italy for that!
—Notes From Italy, Vol. 1: Italians & Leisure As Art
The one exception?
When Italians get on their lilliputian scooters or into their lilliputian cars — heck, even their trucks are lilliputian! —
… they do so as if they are all facing a dire emergency; as if getting from Point A to Point B, even if Point A is home and Point B a grocery store, is a matter of life and death.
Tailgating and passing other vehicles whenever humanly and mechanically possible is of the utmost importance.
Traffic rules don’t seem to exist. I don’t think I saw a turn signal used the entire two weeks in the country, except for obvious fellow tourists in rental cars.
Italians drive like they speak, with great intensity of feeling. They are the Luciano Pavarottis of the road.
But then maybe these motoring tendencies are NOT actually an exception to the “artists of leisure” label I have applied to my Italian brothers and sisters.
Maybe, after all, Italians drive their tiny, Tiny Vehicles very, very fast because…
…it’s fun!
By that logic, then, driving, even for the most mundane of journeys, could be seen as a form of play, a form of leisure!
Molto bene!
Up Next: Notes From Italy, Vol. 3: Food Highlight #1
Filed under: Fish & Bicycles, Notes From Italy Tagged: automobiles, cars, culture, driving, food, Italians, Italy, leisure, Notes From Italy, Pavarotti, scooters, travel, trucks, vehicles
This post first appeared on Fish & Bicycles – A Blog Out Of Bellingham, Wash, please read the originial post: here
