Italian Driving School Diaries - A Cinquecento, La Spezia, tears, and the Autostrada

View of Lerici from La Spezia. It's a very beautiful place. However, the drive to get there was not!

Seriously, what was I smoking when I decided to drive to Piemonte?

I stopped in La Spezia to meet my friend Megan for lunch. When I stepped out of the car, my hands were literally shaking.

One friend back in America had suggested I rent an automatic. She said driving on the Autostrada was super stressful and she has been driving stick/manual all her life.

As I struggled to get from Termini Station to the Autostrada, I was close to hyperventilating. If leaving the Center was such a nightmare, what the heck was going to happen to me on the Autostrada?

I kept stalling out. I got lost. It was a big mess. I finally made to the Autostrada and it was fine. In Italy people use the left lane correctly... to pass. I stayed on the right and nobody tailgated me.

Once I got off the Autostrada to get to Megan's, all hell broke loose. Roundabouts, hairpin turns, steep hills, I was in tears.

After a relaxing lunch and gelato (thanks Megan!), I told myself to get it together. I put on Amy Winehouse's FRANK and continued on my journey.

Got lost again. I was driving toward Milano. Once I turned around and got back on the Autostrada, I thought everything would be okay.

Nope. I was wrong. I finally arrived in Acqui Terme with its zillion roundabouts in the Historic Center and ended up in a parking lot. My friend's B&B was nowhere in sight.

I called. They were probably wondering how the heck I missed their road. Hello, I've been there before. I turned around and later saw my friend's husband on the road leading to the B&B.

I know people have had trouble getting up their driveway. It's very steep. I was told to put the car in 1st gear and don't stop. If I was too nervous to try, they would do it.

After driving for hours, I decided to go for it and made it up the bloody hill. When I pulled up, everyone started clapping. I basically rolled out of the car. I was so happy to get out of it.

After a long shower and a couple glasses of chilled wine, I was fine.

The next day I did tell my friends I didn't think I could deal with driving back.

However my return trip was a breeze, until I got to Rome. Sigh.

I missed the turn for Vatican City and ended up God knows where.

When I finally arrived in my neighborhood, I double parked and gave the man who "helps" people park a few euros. I ran to my place to dropped off my things.

I returned to my car and then zipped around the Center and even Piazza Venezia like butter. Dropping the car off was a lot easier than picking it up. Could be because I had just driven more hours in one weekend trip than in the previous two years.

A few days later I bumped into my driving instructor, Bruno. He asked me how it went. He said he was proud of me. That warmed my heart.

I'm glad I did it. I do feel more comfortable now with a stick.

I get the Autogrill hype. It's not the Italian 7/11. It's on a whole different level.

Next time I rent a car to go out of town, I might get the car from the airport or Villa Borghese to avoid the Center and EUR. Even for experienced drivers getting in and out of Rome is confusing.

The drive, except when I was freaking out, was beautiful. I loved seeing how the terrain changed from Lazio, to Tuscany, to Liguria, and then Piemonte.

The Fiat 500 is a great little car. Excellent mileage. I don't know what type of engine I had. Mine did not have a lot pick up. Merging onto the Autostrada from a gas station was a little stressful.

Nice ride.


I would like to test the Mini Cooper at some point.

Piemonte 2: Electric Boogaloo - wine, ravioli, stars

The first time I went to Piemonte was two years ago on my birthday.

This year I stayed in the Terrace Room. The room is amazing. They just finished it earlier this year. I could live in the shower. For real.

My birthday started out with:
A lovely way to start the day.

Then, like my last trip, I went to a wine tasting.

My friend's husband is an excellent guide. He really knows a lot about Piemontese wines, but speaks about them in a way that is accessible.

Another guest joined us and off we went. We drove to the area of Piemonte called Langhe. This is some serious wine country. Home of the Nebbiolo grape.



We stopped by Ca' del Baio. Micha went to pick up a some cases, but it turned into a impromptu wine tasting. Valentina was wonderful. She is the great granddaughter of the founder. 1000 CORKS has a listing of where you can buy their wines in America. Their wines are very, very, good. Loved their Barbaresco and their Moscato.

The next was vineyard CANTINA DEL GLICINE located in the tiny charming town of Neive. There is a nice video on their website. It takes a bit to load.

The cantina has been in existence since the 1600s. I had a great time and tasted some excellent Dolcetto, Nebbiolo, Barbaresco and Moscato wine. There was one white wine Roero Arneis, that I wasn't familiar with. I'm kicking myself for not buying a bottle.



For my birthday dinner I had these:

Mere words cannot describe how delicious these ravioli were. The sauce was made from the pan drippings of the roasted meat used for the fillings. Super light, and full of flavor.

That night, after dinner, I sat on "my" terrace with a glass of wine. I looked up. The sky was packed with stars. I even saw a shooting star. It was so relaxing and peaceful.

Thanks to my friends, I had so much fun on my birthday I forgot to be in a bad mood.

I adore the area. It's interesting to me that one of the best (if not the best according my wine expert friends) wine regions in Italy is so undiscovered by the busloads of American tourists who go to wine tastings in Tuscany. We saw one American couple. That's it. We did see quite a few cars with French, German and Swiss plates.

Maybe it's because most of the Piemontese producers are small?

Sitting on the terrace hearing nothing but the wind through the trees, I wish I had a house in the country. A place to sit and write. I would love to own a place in Piemonte. After the drive, I realized it's too far from Rome. Way too far.

Yes, it's true I have no money now, but things are going to get better. And I will buy a house one day. It might not be until I'm sixty and it might be super tiny, but it will happen.

In the meantime, it's nice to know there are places where you do feel at home.

Sigh.



At Cantina del Glicine.


One of the best known producers in Italy.


I have to ask Diana for the name of this restaurant. UPDATE: See Diana's response below.


More Piemonte photos are on my FLICKRpage.

Italian Driving School Diaries - Back behind the wheel

I'm going to sign up for Rome's Car Sharing program. Since I haven't been behind the wheel in Rome in over two years, I thought it would be a good idea to take two refresher lessons with my former instructor, Bruno.

The good news: I didn't forget how to drive a stick/manual transmission.

The bad news: I get very nervous driving in Rome.

The combination of driving stick (which is new to me) and not being used to scooters or the massive number of pedestrians freaks me out.

In L.A. we don't have to deal with pedestrians. Maybe a few downtown or near Hollywood/Highland, but nobody walks in L.A. You could be driving down Beverly Blvd in the middle of rush hour and count the number of people walking on the sidewalks with one hand.

In Rome, it's a different story.

Bruno said, "have no fear." I know he's right. I hope in time I will get used to driving in Rome.

One my friends who lived in L.A and N.Y.C. before moving to Rome a few years ago, drives like a native. She's going to let me practice driving with her car. I was told (warned) I must drive around Piazza Venezia.

Great.

Flashback Friday – Patente Di Guida edition - Jay-Z - "Show Me What You Got"

Remember when Jay-Z said he was going to retire? This was his first single back. I recognized the sax intro from that Teddy Riley song from the 90s and the P.E. song from the 80s.

This video cracked me up. I wish I could have been in the pitch meeting. "So look Jay-Z, I'm thinking Monte Carlo, you, Danica Patrick and Dale Earnhardt Jr."

I cannot think of a more random grouping in a hip/hop video. Love it.

I look forward to the day I can drive standard on a road with hairpin turns and not freak out. I would also like to drive a one of the sporty Italian cars in the video. Looks like fun. I don't want to own one...not my style but maybe I could test drive one.

Have a great weekend.

Italian Driving School Diaries - I HAVE AN ITALIAN LICENSE!!

Sorry for the caps but this situation calls for it. I passed the driving exam today.

I still don't believe it. After months of studying and freaking out about the written test and four weeks of driving lessons to learn how to drive a standard/stick it came down to 10 minutes this afternoon.

Yes my driving exam was only 10 minutes long. Let me break down the scene.

I went to the Autoscuola to meet my teacher, Bruno. We (and another student) went to the Parco della Musica to take the exam. Bruno gave us some last minutes tips.

The examiner arrives. She had a lot of style. Seriously, her shoes was fab. She kept her sunglasses on and got in the back seat. I went first. I remembered to use the indicators, check mirrors, etc. I didn't stall once. Phew. Finally I was able to go from 1st to 2nd then to 3rd gear no problem. I remembered to downshift to 2nd before making a turn.

Then I had to parallel park. I reversed too quickly and I did turn my head once to look in front of me. The examiner said, "Signora (in very quickly spoken Italian I didn't understand here)" basically, "what are you doing? Keeping looking behind you." I felt sick to my stomach because I thought she was going to fail me. At least the parking job ended up well. I wasn't too close or too far from the pavement.

After my two fellow classmates took the test, we went over to meet Bruno who had our licenses. We all passed. I held my Patente di Guida to my chest and whisper thank you to the examiner. She smiled. One of the girls pulled me and our other classmate into a group hug. I haven't been this happy since...uhm, it's been a while.

One classmate is going to organize an aperitivo since we live near each other. Both of my former classmates are super sweet. Seniors in high school. I don't think they realize I'm old enough to be their mom.

Anyway, I cannot say enough good things about this school. Yes it's a pain to get your license here but they make the process as smooth as possible. The school is worth every single euro.

Andrea was great. I wish I understood Italian better as the class kept cracking up. I missed most of the jokes/humor. Andrea took the time to answer all my questions. There is no way I would have passed the written exam without taking his classes.

Bruno was my driving instructor. He speaks some English. The man deserves a medal. I was so nervous about learning standard after 20 plus years of driving automatic. He has a ton of patience. Bruno corrected all my bad driving habits. I'm definitely a better driver now after taking lessons with him.

Here is their website.:

http://www.autoscuolailario.it/home.htm

If you know some who needs to sign up with an autoscuola in Rome, this school is the bomb. In a weird way I'm going to miss them. I've been going to the school every week for the past five months.

My next challenge is become fluent in Italian. I think this is going to take a little longer than five months. Ha.

Italian Driving School Diaries - A gold star day.

Today I only stalled out once! We were on a darn hill and I came off the clutch too fast.

However, it was a gold star day because I drove from the school to the Auditorium (Parco della Musica) parking lot, then out of the city. My lesson was for two hours.

Driving a manual in the city is a pain in the butt. Driving on a country road, is bliss. I finally got to go to 4th gear. We were north of the city, in an area called Cassia. Very pretty.

I didn't love the merging lanes on my way out of the city but everything turned out okay.

I really have to watch downshifting from 3rd to 2nd. I keep going to 4th. Bruno told me, while lighting up a cigarette, that I will fail my exam if I do that.

We also practiced parallel parking and u-turns.

This whole experience has been humbling. I do know how to drive and I used to be an excellent parallel parker. The first time I tried to do it with a standard/stick, was not pretty.

I might practice with a friend this weekend.

Does anyone watch the British show TOP GEAR? I was speaking (if you can call it that with my butchered Italian) with Bruno about it. Watching the show makes me want to go out and race some cars. Perhaps I should focus on going from 3rd to 2nd first. Baby steps.

Flashback Friday – Clueless - "You're Getting on The Freeway!"

The clip below is how I felt during yesterday's lesson. I haven't been on the Autostrada yet but Rome traffic is no joke.

I love this movie.

Have a great weekend.

Italian Driving School Diaries - I drove into the Historic Center and lived to blog about it.

Dear Diary,

The lessons continue.

Last week I had to start on a hill. Not fun. ME NO LIKE.

Anyway, today we tried the hill again and I only stalled out once. I seem to have a problem with releasing the clutch too quickly.

Bruno asked me to drive part of the way to the Parco della Auditorium. It wasn't too bad. I'm used to that street now.

However, this time on the return trip back to the school, I drove the entire distance, which meant into the Center.

The scooters are one thing, then you have tour buses and a billion tourists who don't know how to cross the street.

After I made it in one piece through Piazza Navona and driving on Corso Vittorio Emmanuele (a major street here) I had to park the car. Putting the car in reverse I managed to back up without knocking down any scooters.

Bruno said I'm getting better but I really need to work on shifting from 2nd into 3rd and back. I keep going from 3rd into 4th instead of 2nd. That's a problem.

Downshifting from 3rd into 2nd before curves is going to take some time to get used to as well. So much to remember.

Over the weekend part of me was thinking, "Screw this. I'll just take the test on an automatic car and be stuck with an automatic license. It will be easier."

While I miss how easy driving an automatic is, I've been driving standard for less than two weeks. I don't why I thought I would drive like Formula One driver.

A couple of friends offered to practice with me. I think (hope) with more time behind the wheel, my comfort level will increase.

Italian Driving School Diaries - Day one of learning to drive stick.

Bloggisti my instructor, Bruno, threw me into the deep end.

First he drove from the Autoscuola to the Parco Della Musica. There's a big parking lot there and the roads don't have too much traffic. I saw several other driving school cars there.

For my first time EVER driving a stick I didn't do too badly. I stalled out only twice. The clutch feels so foreign to me. To start the car I had trouble remembering to depress the clutch, then give some gas, come slowly off the clutch, etc. Ack.

Going from 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 3rd gear was actually fun. Stopping and starting are going to be a problem. ha.

We were driving on the quiet side streets. Bruno said I was doing a great job. Then instead of making a right onto another side street he had me go straight and turn left onto the busy street (Lungotevere) that runs along the Tiber. Was he crazy? WTF?

I went right into heavy traffic with scooters, underpasses and to top it off, it suddenly started to pour buckets. I drove closer and closer to the Center while trying not to freak out. Then he told me I couldn't use the right hand side mirror in the test so don't use it now, only the rear view mirror. Great.

Finally we were close to the Cavour Bridge and we switched seats. I'm glad he didn't make me drive through Piazza Navona.

Bruno told me I needed to relax. I'm a good driver and tensing up will cause me to make mistakes. I haven't driven in over a year, so I was feeling rusty earlier. Plus, I know this is strange, I get nervous driving with other people in the car. Even after 20 plus years. It makes no sense.

If I were going to take the test on an automatic car (I have that option but then I would only have an automatic license) I would take at least one or two driving classes. Bruno busted me for putting my right hand in the wrong position when I went to turn the steering wheel for a left turn. I griped the wheel with my palm facing upwards. That is one bad habit I need to break.

I think I will be better prepared for my next lesson. Now I get why my friends who drive stick/standard say you have to pay more attention. I also have to pay attention because these lessons are mostly in Italian. My comprehension has definitely improved since I started going to the school.

Italian Driving School Diaries - I PASSED THE WRITTEN EXAM!!!!

Seriously, I have never studied so hard for a freaking test in my life. The three months of classes, taking practice exams and studying every night paid off.

I was nervous until I saw the first question. Then I relaxed. At that point what could I do?

Andrea, our instructor, from the school drove (he has a SICK ride) us out to the place located somewhere way north of the Center. A fellow American and I had to go to the Italian DMV since we were taking the test in English. The other students were able to take the test at a school but starting next month, all tests will be computerized.

Andrea waited with us as the results came in. He gave me a thumbs up but I couldn't get too excited because the other student failed. I felt celebrating would have been in poor taste.

While I still think the prices are quite high for the Autoscuola, you are getting your money's worth. The school does all the paperwork. After seeing the lines at the DMV, I'm happy about that. I almost got into fisticuffs with an employee at the DMV in Washington D.C. I can't even imagine the drama that goes down Italian style.

Next week I start lessons for driving stick/manual. Should be fun.

Italian Driving School Diaries

Dear Diary,

I was feeling pretty good. I've been studying my textbook, going to classes at the Autoscuola and I have been driving for over 20 years.

However all my hopes and dreams were destroyed when I went to the school to take some practice tests on their computer. Ma che cazzo?! (but WTF?!). I failed the majority of the tests.

I am at a loss to see how someone who has been driving for so long could seem to know so little about driving. The last written test I took was in Los Angeles a couple years ago. I went to renew my license and didn't even know I would have to take the darn test. I took it on the spot without studying and passed no problem.

Yet here I am studying this for this f&^%$ test like it's the New York Bar and I'm still getting answers wrong. I said to the teacher in my busted Italian I don't understand why this is happening. He said the test is very difficult...just keep taking the practice exams.

I'm scheduled to take the test in a few weeks. I am going to keep up with the flash cards and hope for the best.

There is a silver lining. I'm so stressed out about this test I don't have time to worry about my dwindling bank account or that I can't get my groove back because I don't know where it is.

Thank you outrageously difficult written test for the Italian Patente B (driver's license class B).

note. While the classes are in Italian, I am taking the test in English. English is my first language. I have been speaking it for quite some time. Doesn't matter, the test is still kicking my butt.