Ciao Readers!
In light of the upcoming election in the U.S., I had two choices – write about the surreal experience of voting and watching the election from abroad (for the second time; in 2008 we were in France), or post a total “fluff” piece. As any good party host knows, you should always stay away from politics and religion, so I chose the latter!
In Friday’s blog I made the following statement: “…we have learned that street signs, signals, barriers, etc. don’t mean much here (one day I’ll have to post a photo of the cars parked all over the street downstairs).” Right after I wrote that, I thought “good idea,” and leaned out a window with a camera. I also shot a few pictures of cars parked in and around Piazza Beccaria (the end of the main street in the neighborhood). The thing to keep in mind as you see the photos of cars literally parked in the street, behind other cars, and in front of clearly marked “no parking” signs is that it took NO effort to take these photos – I didn’t have to wait for the shots – this is how people park ALL THE TIME.
Happy Election!
New Mexico to Italy 
veraersilia
/ November 5, 2012Oh memories! And have you discovered that many cars have rear view mirrors that bend closed flat against the car body for going thru street “too narrow for a car” and for parking even closer to walls and other cars than seems possible?
newmexicotoitaly
/ November 5, 2012Yes – when we first came we rented one and thought the mirror was broken until we figured it out!
Ako
/ November 5, 2012The chaos! This is hysterical. Thanks Hope!
Our Adventure in Croatia
/ November 5, 2012yes it’s like that every time I go back to Italy, especially in big cities like Milan.
And when people don’t stop at traffic lights, or don’t indicate they go left or right, and don’t respect signs, my Mum always answers “oh you’ve been away for too long, signs? indicating? red lights? it’s “optional” ….. 🙂
newmexicotoitaly
/ November 5, 2012Ha! Very true! I’ve been reading a book on Italian culture written by an Italian and he has a whole section on different “types” of red lights!
Our Adventure in Croatia
/ November 5, 2012have you read Severgnini’s books? recommended!!
newmexicotoitaly
/ November 5, 2012Yep – That’s who I’m talking about! 🙂 Thanks!