A Cautionary Tale

I want to express my concerns and give everyone who reads my blog a warning. I’ve always loved Italy—three of my top favorite places, Rome, Venice and Lake Garda. It’s a beautiful country, beautiful people and spectacular history.

The problem and concern I have regarding Italy are their driving laws. Back in February, we rented a car from Hertz and drove to Lake Garda. From there, we went to Verona and Bologna. This past month, my Love received a letter from Hertz stating that they are charging him 35 euros EACH for three moving violations he received in Italy that spanned 15 minutes. He was stunned because he hadn’t even received any moving violations from Italy, so we both went online to do some investigation.

Complaints Board – Traffic ticket complaints in Italy and regarding Hertz.

Fodor’s – Traffic Tickets in Italy

Budget Travel – Italy: Fines for rental-car drivers on the rise

Italy has limited driving zones within city limits to reduce fumes and traffic. In our search, we have found Italy issues close to 27 million traffic violations a year—mainly to tourists. I understand that people should know the driving laws in other countries, but there’s a difference between speeding, running over people, knocking things over, as opposed to driving in an area that is restricted. Why aren’t there gates preventing people from entering if you don’t have a city limit card?

First off, Hertz should have said something to us regarding these limited zone areas. But the fact is, they don’t because they make money off the administration fees. We believe the traffic tickets are from a camera snapping a picture of our car as we passed on the outer circle of the city because we got lost. The times are like 4:01, 4:06 and 4:13 (these aren’t the exact times), so we can assume the tickets are from a camera snapshot. So Italy is going to fine us three times for passing an area in a 15 minute time frame, and the cost could be around 115 euros for EACH violation. I think it’s a disgrace that Hertz purposely doesn’t say anything so they can make more money and that Italy would fine a tourist for getting lost—which the times clearly prove.

We left a beautiful country after having a beautiful time, and now we will have to pay for that time with an additional cost close to 500 euros.

This is a warning to anyone who are considering on going to Italy. Forget about it, or don’t bother renting a car if you plan on going into an Italian city center. You’ll pay more than you bargained for and that leaves a lasting impression.

You Can’t Handle the Truth!

Well…I’m trying to handle it. The time has come for me to say good-bye. I’m sad my European adventures and time with my Love is ending, but I know I was blessed and appreciate the opportunity. We’ve explored so many places within Germany and Europe that we’ve tracked our walks and they totaled approximately 210 miles since January 9. I’ve been pretty proud of our footage. Here’s a recap of the journeys we took over the past 5 months: (Germany) Hattingen, Essen, Monschau, Plettenberg, Bochum, Krefeld-Lynn, Wuppertal, Munster, Dusseldorf, Cologne, Dortmund, Kempen, Schloss Burg, Altenberg; (Luxembourg) Luxembourg; (Scotland) Edinburgh, (England) Windsor, (Spain) Roses, Cadaques, Figueres, Barcelona, Girona, Banyoles, Besalu; (Belgium) Brugge; (Holland) Amsterdam, Venlo, Domburg, Zoutelande; (Italy) Lake Garda, Verona, Bologna; and (Sweden) Stockholm, Trosa, Nykoping. I want to thank you all for following us in our travels.

As an update to my “I Got Your Back” post, I haven’t shed my weight like Germany shed the snow, but I haven’t gained either. See how I made that a positive. ;) At the present time, I am unable to sell my condo due to unforeseen matters. Once those unforeseen matters are cleared up, I will put it on the market. For anyone looking for a condo on the south side of Chicago in a historic part of town, and within walking distance to the train, shoot me an email and maybe we can work something out.

At the present time, my Love has not found a teaching position in the U.S. What this means is that he will be coming to the U.S. with me through the month of April for his spring break and student exchange excursion, but will return to Germany in May. I will look for a job, hopefully freelance or within the Chicago downtown area, while he finishes out his school year in Germany. If he still doesn’t have a teaching position in the U.S. by summer, he will come in July during his summer break and then return to Germany at the end of August—another year of separation.

It will be a tough year for us, so I ask you to send good thoughts our way…or a job. LOL! Anyhow, this will be my last post before I leave for the States on Friday. I wish you all a safe and awesome week.

 
Bea, who is looking forward to a shower without a hunched ceiling.

Incipit Vita Nova

The first time I was in Italy was the first time I went to Europe. It was March of 1998, and a friend wanted to go to Paris. I wasn’t that thrilled about seeing Paris, so I told her to add on Italy and I’m there. Before we left, everyone told me I’d love Paris and Florence, but my favorites were Rome and Venice; the vino, piazzas and canals captured my heart from the start.

This time around—a newfound love of Italy—came from another part I hadn’t seen. On Friday, we flew into Bologna and drove to a place called Lake Garda that has a backdrop of the snow topped Alps. Lake Garda was formed in the Ice Ages by a glacier. The first settlers date back to 4000 B.C. Another interesting fact is that the Red Cross was established from the “Battle of Solferino” in Lake Garda. Due to the conditions for the wounded, a man by the name of Henri Dunant wrote the “Souvenir of Solerina” in 1862 campaigning for improvements in treating the wounded, and so began the first Geneva Convention signing in 1863.

Lake Garda is now a love of mine. The lake has many different villages around it where you can stop to shop, enjoy a café or gelato, or have a delicious Italian dinner by the lake. It’s breathtaking and I want to retire here. LOL! Yeah, like that will happen. Anyways, I hope you enjoy the tour. Please keep your hands inside the car. ;)

We begin the tour on Dante Alighieri Street—the street where our hotel was located . For those of you who don’t know who Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) was, he was an Italian poet who wrote The Divine Comedy about life and God; Inferno (hell), Purgatorio (Purgatory) and Paradiso (Paradise). The title of this post is from his Sonnet, La Vita Nuova, and it means “Here beginneth the new life.” In a sense, seeing Lake Garda was like beginning a new life, and it also sums up my life over the past two years.

This picture was taken from our balcony as the sun started to wake. 

After breakfast, we hopped in the car and started to make stops along the way. It may sound morbid, but our first stop was at a cemetery. It was breathtaking with the Alps behind it and I thought what a beautiful resting place.

We stopped at the first little village north of our hotel. The sun slowly came around as I ate up everything I saw.

We walked down some streets and I took a few pictures. This is when I got a feel for the place and those who live here.

This is a picture of an island on Lake Garda. It's called the Olive Island.

These pictures are of another village and its surrounding area. 

This house was well protected and guarded from intrusion. I also took a few pictures near the house and the scenery was perfect.

Again, we walked down some streets so I could capture its essence. 

We took a cable car up to the top of Monte Baldo. Here are pictures as we were going up, on top and then when we came down.

I thought this picture was pretty cool. These are orange trees with the Alps behind them.

After driving around the lake making more stops, we finally settled down to eat where I had my first Italian pizza. Mmm….

It rained the next day, so we decided to visit a few more places on the way to the airport. Unfortunately, the weather can kill the appreciation of a place, but we both enjoyed our time  in Verona. Of course I thought of Shakespeare’s The Two Gentleman of Verona comedy as we walked around. 

We went into the Castelvecchio Museum. This actually was a great museum because some of the sculptures and paintings were founded within the castle (1355), preserved and exhibited with the castle.

Here are a few pictures taken of the Adige River. 

We also went into the Arena di Verona. It’s an ampitheatre that was built in the 1^st century A.D. and is still used as a concert venue for operas.

 

After eating, we headed to Bologna. We originally had a trip planned to Bologna in December, but canceled because of the snow. We were both glad we did because as much as there is history in Bologna, I found it disturbing and sad at the amount of dirt and graffiti that covers this city. There wasn’t a street we walked down near the center that wasn’t covered with graffiti. We can now say we’ve been to Bologna, but I doubt I’ll be back. Here are a few of the things I found beautiful in the city in the short time we were there.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures. Have a great week.