Once upon a time in Texas, there was a girl with an appetite and a dream...

5.08.2006

"OohOOH--look! There's a perfect spot!! Park there...


...right there in the middle of the road! I'll be right back..."

Someone actually parked their car like this.

Creative parking is definitely a way of life here, but even by Neapolitan standards, this carefree driver was sashaying into jackass teritory. The guy who double-parked in front of the handicap spot so he could run upstairs and slap his mamma even said so.

And that's bad.

23 Comments:

Blogger Unknown said...

oh wow - that totally looks like a mess. At first I thought everyone was parked like that... Crazy Italians!!!

5/08/2006 10:17 AM

 
Blogger Unknown said...

Heh...now that's some funny shiznit right there! Thanks for the Monday morning laugh!

5/08/2006 11:52 AM

 
Blogger lettuce said...

lol - I love your life!

5/08/2006 1:05 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

That is so Italian!

I once had my hire car towed over there 'cause I was in an (invisible) no parking zone.

Then the nice p'liceman wanted a translation of my driving licence.

Puuuleeeeeeease! :D

5/08/2006 1:19 PM

 
Blogger nikinpos said...

hmmm, Carlo actually parked like that this afternoon!

5/08/2006 1:28 PM

 
Blogger Kevin Beck said...

How did you get that pic? Great stuff.

5/08/2006 2:21 PM

 
Blogger Yael said...

scusa, whatssupa wid dat??? Looks perfectly normal to me...

5/08/2006 2:26 PM

 
Blogger A Novelist said...

Brilliant. And I thought there were crazy drivers in NYC - that takes the cake! :)

5/08/2006 3:03 PM

 
Blogger cristina said...

we used to live in Rome and the reputation of its traffic was bad, but we heard rumours that Napoli was by far the worst city in bella Italia to drive in. Looks like it is living up to its reputation ;)
btw, you have been tagged. Scusa...

5/08/2006 4:04 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Nice to see us Angelenos haven't cornered the market on bad parking.

(Loved your recipes in the previous post, by the way. I'm going to save them.)

5/08/2006 4:17 PM

 
Blogger Corrie said...

very nice. the poor bus! i love italian parking. today i almost got run over walking on the sidewalk...(or wait, make that EVERY day!)

-Jackie

5/08/2006 5:25 PM

 
Blogger Dear AL said...

What's the hell is wrong with you Italians over there? Tracie, did you park like that for the pic? It was you, wasn't it? Come clean!

5/09/2006 12:44 AM

 
Blogger Ann said...

Typical Italian parking. Basically park the car wherever it stops and let everyone else figure out how to get around you. Have done myself a couple of times, of course learned by "example".
Ann
http://www.blogcharm.com/amborg

5/09/2006 3:25 AM

 
Blogger Tracie P. said...

expat--and a mess is was

camille--prego :)

lettuce--watch your back, i'm making salad today

tc--haha :)

nikinpos--i believe it

kevin--gennaro and i were on our way back from the port (we had just arrived from ischia) and there was a bit of a traffic jam. i ALWAYS have my camera so i snapped it though the dirty windshield of the jeep...

yael--you've been in italy too long :)

coffee--d'oh!

sweatpants--thanks, let me know how they turn out

stelle--you know the sidewalk is no place for a pedestrian!!

dear al--i would never have the "palle" for that

ann--tsk tsk tsk

novelist--you ain't seen nuthin yet

5/09/2006 4:30 AM

 
Blogger nyc/caribbean ragazza said...

wow, I thought parking in Rome was bananas.

5/09/2006 4:57 AM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

well I live in Naples and I am desperately trying to learn to drive. Well, it is a bit embarassing : I passed my driving licence when I was 18 (now I am 32) but, since then, I have never found the courage to start driving "on my own". I mean: in a very first time I started driving with some friends (and they all told me "ok manu you can drive quite well), but then I found out (clever girl isn't it) that driving with someone by your side was useless because the real need to do it was when you had to go in some place and nobody could drive you to that far place!
Sadly this courage I needed never showed up so I gave up the idea but now I am "in need": I work in a place very far and I have to take underground and two buses to get there and it is annoying since I have to wake un at 5 in the morning..............SO I desperately need to get rid of my fears and sit in a car and drive it, but what makes it worst is that the place where I have to learn it is NAPLES and I am really scared....any comments and suggestions are almost welcome!
manuela
PS: please excuse me for my English.........that's another thing I am desperately trying in this period of big changes: to improve my English!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

5/09/2006 12:47 PM

 
Blogger Cynthia Rae said...

I have learned that BAD parking is NOT a trait of the north OR the south. Both equaly share in the bad parking department.
CYn

5/09/2006 1:03 PM

 
Blogger Ginnie Hart said...

Actually, are the Italians related to the Mexicans? We so could not get away with something like that in Atlanta but somehow I can picture it happening where I've been in Mexico.

5/09/2006 9:06 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

hehe, one day I'll stick a video of some Cypriot drivers on my blog. They must be seen to be believed. An official EU poll said that they were officially the worst drivers in the whole of the EU.... but they still think their great. Tell me, if they're so great, why do they think it is acceptable to reverse through traffic-lights to get out of an illegal parking space just because it's quicker than putting their phone down? I'm at a loss with that one.

5/10/2006 1:28 PM

 
Blogger Darbs said...

LMAO...I've heard stories about the driving/parking over there...SCARY.

I mean, do the police ever write tickets?

5/16/2006 12:33 AM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Is it o.k. if I use this great picture. I told my family and friends from Holland about driving, parking etc in Italy and this picture is so making its point!

5/25/2006 9:17 AM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I used this photo too on my blog... in this "post" I hope is copyleft! :)

5/27/2006 9:59 AM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

That's so normal in Naples :P

8/16/2006 3:40 AM

 

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