Pre-paid parking permits

In my recent trip to Italy, I've noticed that municipalities of small towns have been adopting a new way to collect parking fees. Instead of using traditional parking meters, drivers can purchase pre-paid parking permits sold in coffee shops and newsstands. How does it work? Just scratch the date and time of arrival, put the permit on your dashboard and come back in time before the Vigili Urbani give you a ticket. The average parking fee is around $0.60 per hour.

How much does gas cost in Italy?

If you are planning to rent a car in Italy, you may wish to know how much gas costs these days. One gallon of normal gas (not premium) costs around $6.70. In our recent trip, we opted for a diesel rental car, which got quite a good mileage and for the same gallon of fuel we paid 'just' $5.78 ... sigh...

A Pedestrian's Life in Italy (video)

Wondering what is like crossing a street in Italy? This video documents the everyday challenges of pedestrians in your favorite European destination.

- Can't see the video? Watch it from YouTube
- Ipod version (MP4 - 9MB)

Watch out for that big P

In Italy, you can start driving at 18. Students in the process of getting their license, can drive dad's car (with daddy inside) if they display a big letter 'P' on the back of the car. P stands for principiante, that is beginner. The journey to graduate to 'crazy Italian driver' implies the following next steps:
- get the license
- get rid of the un-cool P sticker
- convince daddy that there is no need to come along anymore

Ape: the Italian truck

The Ape is a landmark of the Italian roads. Built by Piaggio, the same manufacturer of the Vespa scooter, it's still a fairly popular transportation vehicle for light cargo. Compared to the gigantic US and Japanese trucks, the Ape with its 50cc engine is a far economical option ... and easier to park too.