texans on the autobahn

Roads that should be less traveled….

Venice and Florence are two distinctly different cities, yet they share a common theme when it comes to driving. The boats of Venice that weave through the canals are no different than the autos and mopeds that weave through the traffic of Florence. There are no traffic rules, only traffic suggestions. It was entirely too stressful navigating through the streets of Florence. What the hotel brochures call “ The great experience of the historical center of Florence”, really means “You must have great driving experience and expert map reading ability to find this hotel in the historical center of Florence.” The very narrow “one-way roads” surrounded by tall buildings make it nearly impossible for accurate GPS locating, so navigational systems just don’t work. The difficulty of locating our hotel was compounded by road closures that our navigational system was not aware of. The architects of 17th century Florence just did not design-in the roads of historic Florence with the turning radius of a 2005 VW passat wagon. Would’nt you expect more from the village that produced such forward thinkers as Galileo and da Vinci?

posted by stuckinthemiddle @ 2:38 PM