Italian Drivers....again

So I know I've mentioned it before but the last few weeks have made me even more aware of how truly TERRIBLE the driving situation is here. Any of you who have ever had to drive with me know that there are quite a few habits that other drivers have that I DESPISE. (Lauren if you're reading this, you are well versed in my road rage!!!) For example:

1. When driving on the Autostrada(highway), Italian drivers like to keep their options open in case a faster lane opens up and they can zoom off into the sunset. Unfortunately they do this by driving their car half in one lane and half in the one they might want to go into at some point. This means that if you are driving in the lane that they may or may not want to go into then you are forced to slow down to avoid running into the left back portion of their bumper. Your options are then to beep(which generally does NO good), creep closer until they finally see you in that thing they call a side mirror(this is assuming they actually HAVE one left on the car) and they move back into their lane, or undertake them in one of the other lanes if its not jammed up with gigantic trucks driving nose to bumper. I generally opt for undertaking, or creeping up closer which I HATE doing because I dislike driving so close to someone at that speed. Then I usually give them a very Italian hand flick gesture which seems to mean "You are a total idiot get it together" and I gun my little Fiat 500 past them :)

2.When someone overtakes you here(usually on the highway) they seem to find it necessary to cut back into your lane as CLOSE as they possibly can to your front bumper. This nearly gives me a heart attack EVERY time they do it as it looks like they are coming right into the side of your car. Now one would think that they do this because a Ferrari or an Aston Martin or some fabulous car is flying up behind them but no.....generally there is no car to be seen behind them, its just the way they roll here!! And it's REALLY annoying.

3. The roundabout. Commonly called a traffic circle in my neck of the woods. Now roundabouts can have multiple lanes in some of the bigger ones, but around here they generally consist of two lanes. You go into the inner lane to go AROUND the roundabout to a second, third or fourth exit, moving to the outside lane when you want to exit. Its confusing at first but QUITE simple really once you've  done it a few times. Except for some reason the Italians seem to think that they can just create lanes in the roundabout so sometimes there will be a third, and even fourth lane going around which just causes complete chaos. Then they also like to just ignore the whole right of way thing that most people driving in the roundabout get, and they just drive into the mix expecting everyone coming around to stop because hey if you don't you'd t-bone them. THIS makes driving in a roundabout here rather stressful since the usual rules apparently do NOT apply!!

4.The Shoulder....aka The ambulance lane.  Here they have a great little system of electronic sign boards on the roads so if there is an accident ahead you know about it and you then understand why the traffic is backed up. SO....deciding that you are more important than everyone else and cutting into the shoulder to drive and then NOT getting out of the way when the ambulance responding to the accident is flying up your ass is absolutely unforgiveable! It makes me see red, NOTHING gets me more annoyed than people blocking the way of an ambulance. I could go on and on...and to be fair this is definitely NOT just a problem in Italy, Canadians in their big stupid trucks are just as bad!

5. The parking situation. It seems to be a "thing" here that they all want to park as close as possible to the entrance of a building because god forbid we have to walk 10 steps further to the open space 5 stalls down. I was keying something into my GPS, it was pouring rain out and I had just gotten into my car at the metro station. There were lots of spaces further out from where I was and someone had the nerve to beep at me TWICE to inform me that they were waiting for my parking space! This annoyed me so much that I shut off my car and gave them the "Italian hand gesture"  in a very annoyed way and they gunned it off down the parking lot to park 5 spaces away.........SERIOUSLY.

Wow...well that might be it for now!! I feel much better :)

Italian parenting at its finest!!!

*please note the DRIPPING sarcasm that goes along with the title of this blog post!!!*

So Italians are quite funny with their kids. Its not uncommon to see kids at the grocery store get a cuff to the head, a spanking in public or any sort of discipline that would be quite frowned upon in North America. If your kid is throwing a fit here, you're expected to discipline them, and when you do everyone gives you kindly smiles and tells you she's "Bella" (yes I'm now talking about my own beautiful little monster!!!)
BUT....no one would fault you for hand smacking, spanking or cuffing your child here, and to be fair, the kids seem to be better behaved here in public than at home!!! I'm starting to find I'm not as opposed to these things as I thought!
Reese gets her hand smacked if she does something truly naughty or dangerous, and soon she'll probably get her bum tapped too if she continues trying to pull her hand from mine to run into the road in the village!!
SO, while I agree with the Italian way of disciplining the kids, I can NOT get on board with their "God Complex" when it comes to kids and driving.
On the way back from the zoo yesterday, this very nice black SUV passes us quite quickly in the fast lane, with a nicely dressed, well groomed lady sitting in the passenger seat, and a nice, clean, respectable looking man sitting in the drivers seat. They were probably going about 130 km an hour and we were on the autostrada, and it was raining. Now on the autostrada speeds range from 80km/hr to about 180 km/hr when the Ferraris fly past you!!!

What was really out of place with this couple was the TODDLER SITTING ON THE MOM'S LAP IN THE FRONT SEAT WITHOUT A BELT!!!! WHAT THE HECK!?!?!?!

I had heard about this little Italian secret before I came here, various blogs from non-italians told about seeing it for the first time. I hadn't seen it at all until yesterday and honestly thought those people must have been making it up! Apparently it stems from the "I'm Italian and therefore I am the best driver in the world and will not crash" complex(similar to the bike complex from my previous post). This then also translates into "Baby is best in Mama's arms, and since Daddy is a great driver she doesn't need to be in a carseat".

It blows my mind

I would expect something like this from the Beverley Hillbillies, going to town in the truck thorough range roads with Junior on the knee, but not from respectable looking parents doing mach 10 on the autostrada in the rain!!!!
I guess its just their way of thinking, although I'm not sure what the rationale behind it would be, I'm fairly certain that statistics have shown that baby IS ALWAYS safer in a car seat. God forbid someone else blows a tire and spins out and you have to break suddenly....it gives me chills.
SO...if you're visiting Italy you might see this example of Italian parenting at its finest, I'm sure you'll just stare open mouthed like I did, utter WTF, and then shake your head slowly, looking back to check that YOUR precious bundle is safely strapped in the car seat!!!!!

The Call Bus is BRILLIANT!

So Reese and I went with the Melton clan(minus Harry and son) on the CALL BUS(yes I know it sounds very exciting but its just a regular bus!!) today to the Ipermarket. We weren't sure whether it was going to actually work!!
Brandie had emailed yesterday to tell them what time and where we wanted to go. Sure enough, the bus showed up on time, we payed a Euro each way and it took us right where we wanted to go!!!Like a taxi but in bus form.
No changing buses, getting lost on metro lines or paying almost 3 euros on the regular bus! We can't figure out why its so cheap but honestly I don't care. Its a great way to get to the shops and back. Brandie said that it only services Basiglio, Milano 3 and Rozzano but hey......it worked GREAT!!!!!!!! No getting lost for us anymore :)

Tomorrow I'm going to figure out how to drive into San Donato where Richard works because a bunch of the Fluor wives are meeting up for coffee. Should be interesting. The only thing that really weirds me out about driving here is the Italians lack of adherence to roundabout rules. They seem to think that they can just drive in any lane that they choose no matter which exit they are taking and getting violently cut off at the last second is quite common on a roundabout! You beep, they throw their hands up(yes both of them, while driving in a circle) and gesture wildly. Its quite comical actually!!!! We're off to buy a GPS tonight so I'm sure it can get me where I want to go........hopefully :)