Le Macchine

I have long been wanting to approach the subject of automobiles.  It is, however, a daunting task. 

There are many cars in Rome.  They are all so tiny that they just look scattered across the roads like little toys.  Among them are Fiats, of course, and both the old and the new 500s (CinqueCentos) proliferate the environment.  There are old Citroens, new and old Mini Coopers plus wagons and limited editions, Peugots, and Rovers.  Cars that you forgot about like Lancias and cars you didn’t know existed like the Ford Ka.  The best-looking little bugger (besides the classics, of course) is, surprisingly, the Daihatsu Trevis.  It reminds me of a mini version of London Hackney TX models.  The most famous of Italian cars, the Ferrari, are seen at least a few times per week.  But I haven’t seen many exotics.  Just one Lotus and a dozen Porches.  Unmarked government cars tend to be BMWs or Audis.  The Carabinieri drive really awesome Defenders or Alfa Romeos.    

If you don’t have two wheels on a curb, then you haven’t parked.  Because the streets are so narrow, it is only polite to park on the curb.  The logic is furthered by reasoning that if there is no room for parking, one might just as well double park, park on the sidewalk, or throw the car in reverse for a few blocks until a spot is located.  If there is a parking lot with cars parked head-in along one side, another row of cars laid end-to-end will suddenly appear.  If a street is bidirectional, it is not uncommon to see cars parallel parked in an alternating sequence of nose-to-nose and end-to-end with a few head-in Smartcars, a CinqueCento double parked so that it blocks two scooters, a trash dumpster and someone’s front door or a Citroen parked between two trees on a sidewalk.  Similar to the cultural idea of personal space, there is a different standard in what is a ‘reasonable’ distance from other cars in a parallel parking situation or from people in a car/pedestrian situation.  Some of you may know my penchant for throwing whatever is in my hand (smoothies are best for this type of work) if I am narrowly missed as a pedestrian in a crosswalk by an automobile.  The same logic does not work here. 

It has always amused me that we feel comfortable in cars on the highway at literal break-neck speeds because there is a yellow stripe painted in the middle.  If you happen to be driving out on a country road or where lanes merge and the lanes separations are somewhat murky, you tend to slow down and be more cautious.  Again, the same logic does not work here.  It seems as though one just assumes that the lines are there and drives like Cruella De Vil.  The cars seem to manage and I assume it is because the drivers are used to the idea.  As a pedestrian, however, it is somewhat disconcerting.  

I walk at least two hours a day in a major urban center.  I look both ways but unless I’m on a major intersection, I don’t wait for a crosswalk or a light.  There doesn’t seem to be much of a reason.  Laws exist in Italy, but sometimes I’m not sure why.   I know when it’s safe, when people will stop, and when they won’t/can’t, like if it’s a bus or if the roads are wet.  I haven’t yet been hit by a car...knock on iron. 

Just to round out the vehicle situation without going into too much detail, the trash trucks are tiny and all the people who drive them and gather the trash are incredibly good-looking, young men AND women in their mid-thirties.  Scooters are everywhere and every demographic drives one, in every type of weather, with every type of passenger imaginable.  I saw a woman riding a scooter with her dog between her feet.  Not all scooters are Vespas and there are still those bizarre BMWs with the roll cages that look like this.  But by far, my favorite non-car vehicle is the Piaggio APE.  Someday, I will have one.  It will be purple.  I’ve always needed the love-child of a scooter and a semi-truck.