"Bridge, this is the Captain. How can you have a "Yellow Alert" in space dock?" Like the Captain of USS Excelsior who asks this question in the movie Star Trek III, our journey today to meet with the landlord at our new house in Pozzuoli, Italy, begs a similar question, "How do you get lost with a Garmin in Italy?" Well, evidently, it's easy!
In no time at all we found ourselves in the middle of one of the adjacent bustling towns on the outskirts of Naples, with no idea where we were ~ weaving in and out as we were going down the road in the middle of these narrow little streets with cars coming from the right, coming from the left, and cars headed right at us as well . . . while the navigation system calmly said in 300 meters enter traffic roundabout, then take second exit, then turn right, then it said proceed 1.2 km and turn left. (there were far too many of these little traffic circles) Suddenly, in front of us was a construction zone and the road we were supposed to continue on was completely blocked and we had to take a detour. All the while, we couldn't read the signs because they're in Italian and we didn't know where we were, so we couldn't get our bearings. The "Garmin Girl" kept saying, "Recalculating, recalculating . . ."
Or even to just get headed in the right direction. We stopped and zoomed out on the Garmin map to see if we were even close to our destination and the best way to describe the look of the asymmetric pattern of the city roads in Naples is to say that it resembles a black widow's spider's web!! The roads follow no discernable pattern. They crisscross and fork in such a way that it even confuses the best satellite navigation. Interestingly enough though, the seemingly chaotic traffic flow on Italian roads is actually less stressful to Papa, than the rigid, regimented style of driving in the states. In America we remain stopped at a light even if there's no traffic crossing in front at the intersection, but here you never know if the Italians are going to stop for the traffic signal or just continue on through. If they see no opposing traffic they simply proceed whether the light is red or green. And then if you don't follow them through, you risk being honked at by the cars behind you. We are told to exercise caution when stopped at a stop sign because we may get rear ended, or at least nudged by the person behind us if there's no one in front of us. . . so stop can actually mean go if there's no obstructing traffic! Although this all sounds somewhat unnerving, the whole driving experience has a surreal, almost calming effect to it (that I have yet to experience). . .according to Papa, because everyone keeps moving. To quote the old beatniks from the '60's, "Crrrazzy baby!!" It is crazy over here. All we can say is we are definitely glad we didn't bring the Aspen!! With all due respect to Garmin, it's only trying to give us the shortest route. But we're learning
Or even to just get headed in the right direction. We stopped and zoomed out on the Garmin map to see if we were even close to our destination and the best way to describe the look of the asymmetric pattern of the city roads in Naples is to say that it resembles a black widow's spider's web!! The roads follow no discernable pattern. They crisscross and fork in such a way that it even confuses the best satellite navigation. Interestingly enough though, the seemingly chaotic traffic flow on Italian roads is actually less stressful to Papa, than the rigid, regimented style of driving in the states. In America we remain stopped at a light even if there's no traffic crossing in front at the intersection, but here you never know if the Italians are going to stop for the traffic signal or just continue on through. If they see no opposing traffic they simply proceed whether the light is red or green. And then if you don't follow them through, you risk being honked at by the cars behind you. We are told to exercise caution when stopped at a stop sign because we may get rear ended, or at least nudged by the person behind us if there's no one in front of us. . . so stop can actually mean go if there's no obstructing traffic! Although this all sounds somewhat unnerving, the whole driving experience has a surreal, almost calming effect to it (that I have yet to experience). . .according to Papa, because everyone keeps moving. To quote the old beatniks from the '60's, "Crrrazzy baby!!" It is crazy over here. All we can say is we are definitely glad we didn't bring the Aspen!! With all due respect to Garmin, it's only trying to give us the shortest route. But we're learning
that the shortest route is rarely
the best one! And hardly ever the fastest! (Above is a picture of our car as we waited in it for Francesca)
We finally stopped in a fairly open area where a lot of cars were parked, across from what seemed to be a very popular cafe. I called our Italian realtor to tell her we were lost and she asked, "Where are you?" I then quickly jumped out of the car and handed the phone to a random Italian man sitting in the car next us with his window down, so that he could explain where we were to her in Italian. He said, "Italiano?" "Si," I said, and with relief on his face (glad to not have to try to speak to me in English, I'm sure) he told Francesca where we were parked. She was there to rescue us within about 10 minutes! Whew! Very reminiscent of Japan. Just able to read the signs ~ only not able to understand yet.
We went to the mall afterward and I promptly bought a very good dictionary! And Papa bought a "man purse" ~ which everyone has here in Italy! (But I will save that for another story on another day) Sherman was waiting for us, as usual, and can't wait to be in his new Italian home.
Cia0, Bella! Mimi
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