So you want to rent a car in Italy?

So you want to rent a car in Italy? Lets start out by saying we did. We are glad we did. But just know we got a little lucky just by chance and we survived with only two tickets for the same offence at the same location ten minutes apart. Coincidence? We think not...

First off get your car rented and confirmed prior to leaving home. We also would recommend you go through an online operation that has a good reputation. Get your international drivers licence at the DMV. Before you decide you want to live it up with a luxury car for this big trip you need to think again. There were four of us and our luggage for just over two weeks and we were able to use the experience of some friends who had done it all before. Whats the big deal you ask, well the roads in Italy are typically very narrow. Narrow enough in many small towns that two smart cars cannot pass at the same time and its not a curb you will hit but a stone wall or building from a previous century. The four of us and our luggage fit in the Citroen Turbo Diesel equivalent of a Toyota Corolla. Did we mention it was a stick? Don’t drive a stick shift? You might be surprised to know that most Italians do and so the majority of cars in Italy are stick-shift (or manual shift) not automatic, including rentals. That means automatics often have a limited availability, and usually cost more. (Another good reason to book in advance!). We were fine with the stick. Motorcycles and scooters are also available for rent, but just don't. And never, ever try to learn to drive a scooter for the first time in a foreign city. You have been warned.

We should probably also say we did not drive in Rome. Best decision we made. What a nut house. Limited or hidden signage that was hard to find on foot and the typical traffic volume of a big city with the reckless abandonment of driving style usually reserved for a Costco parking lot.  Four lanes around the roundabout with no lane lines. Truly amazing!

Once you have received your car as a rule do not leave the lot before you make sure all your controls are set up in english. Did we mention get a car with GPS. It is a must. We had one in the car that we had the rental car guy change the language from Italian to English because we could not figure it out, and also we brought with us our Tom Tom. We recommend you do the same. Also get a good new map as a backup.

On the road in Italy, signs often won’t indicate north, south, east, or west; instead, they’ll use a city sign. So if you want to drive north from Rome, for example, you might look for a sign for “Firenze” or “Sienna.” As you might expect, this can be incredibly confusing for anyone not intimately familiar with Italian geography (especially when you get to smaller roads, which often indicate their direction with smaller towns and villages).

Roundabouts, intersections, and exits off main roads often have signs indicating restaurants, hotels, and sights of interest… but you’ll have to be a graduate of the Italian Evelyn Wood speed reading College to scan them all let alone figure out where you are going.Then there is the cadence of the driving. What we like to call "road rage" here, with other drivers seeming to be quite upset about your being in their way, is standard procedure on Italian roads, where they see it as a routine part of driving. For many Americans, your concept of courtesy will be seen by Italian drivers as a sign of weakness (we're not joking here)! You better be prepared to get on with it and it is not about speed its more about merging where there is only inches to spare. If you can fit you better go for it. As soon as you see a gap, go for it. Italians expect the unexpected and react swiftly but they're not used to ditherers so whatever you do, do it decisively.

The historic centres of many cities, towns and villages throughout Italy have ZTLs (Limited Traffic Zones). The zones in each place will have its own regulations. Some zones are restricted to certain hours, some to residents only, some to cars with certain permits. Just assume you do not have one and are not allowed in. Not all ZTLs are camera enforced, but in the regions near Florence , Pisa , Siena , Arezzo and Lucca , certainly are. The cameras like the signs are not always obvious. We walked into Luca as we had been warned and it took us a while on foot to find the signs that mention no entry without permit.

When travelling down the motorways (the only way to cover any distance) stay on the right unless you are overtaking (foreign concept to most Americans) or you may get a ticket for impeding traffic. Most motorways have tolls so you should carry €20-30 in coins to speed your progress through the toll booths. While you can pay with cash or credit cards, follow white signs to booths to pay by cash, blue signs to booths to pay by credit card, cash is the fastest. The lanes with yellow signs are for frequent users that have a telepass.

This series of cautions may make it seem a bit daunting and in some ways it is, but at the same time we would not have changed a thing. Dont drive in Rome. Drive in the country. Have two GPS's and a good map and a designated navigator to aid the driver and a backup navigator for when the inevitable happens. Allow a lot more time than you think for even just finding a park can take a lot of time, yes a lot of time. Get the smallest car you and your gear can fit in and carry a lot of coins for the tolls and parking meters and do your daily pre trip homework.

One more thing. The Italians are more than happy to give you directions. If your Italian is good you are set. If, like us both of your Italian words are not to be used in mixed company you get a lot of gesturing along with the most misunderstood words of our trip. Directions in the best Italian english blend with exaggerated hand gestures... Itsa easy, you cannota miss it ... yet we did most of the time.

Ciao Ciao enjoy your drive.

Happy Wine Adventures,

Cheers,

WineWalkabout

Kiwi & Koala

Tossing coins into Fontana di Trevi

When in Rome there are a number of things that are just 'must do' sights to see and the Fontana di Trevi or the Trevi Fountain is just one of them.

So there we were in the Eternal City after a couple years of planning. Luckily we were smart enough to have RomeCabs pick us up at the airport and deliver us, with an orientation tour of the city to get our bearings on the way to the Hotel Alpi, where we were staying while in Rome. You will not find any other place in the world that celebrates architecture and the essence of water with it's ever changing form and power like Rome. Ok, they tend to celebrate a lot of things in Rome, but fountains and water, is at or near the top of the list. 
The Trevi Fountain is a spectacular work of art that is much more than a mere fountain. This example of Baroque art with its soft lines and fantasy creatures is an amazing sight. The fountain is a true wonder, a jewel of water and stone that is nestled between the palaces of the historic centre of the city and it is one of the biggest fountains in Rome.

Being lost tourists with a not to scale tourist map we discovered finding things is not as easy as it should be, but not all that hard either. Luckily as you approach the fountain you can hear its presence from the nearby streets. Once you get to the fountain you need to spend some time just hanging out, looking and listening and just trying to take it all in. Better yet you should get some pre-dinner, post breakfast or lunch gelato from one of the nearby gelaterias. Ah, the sound of the worlds most famous fountain and eating magical gelato while you sit on the steps is truly wonderful when not too crowded (read very early morning and late at night).

The Trevi Fountain, or Fontana di Trevi in Italian, is Italy’s most famous fountain, standing 85 feet high and 65 feet across. The fountain can be found in Rome's Piazza di Trevi in the Quirinale district and is easily reached by bus, Metro or on foot as we did. The Trevi Fountain was designed by Roman architect Nicola Salvi. Construction began in 1732 and concluded three decades later under artist Giuseppe Pannini as Salvi's successor. The site originally marked the terminal at the Aqua Virgo aqueduct built in 19 BC.

The central figures of the fountain are Neptune (God of the sea), flanked by two Tritons. One struggles to master an unruly "sea horse", the other leads a far more docile animal. These symbolize the two contrasting moods of the sea. One of the first storey reliefs shows a young girl (the legendary virgin after whom the aqueduct was named) pointing to the spring from which the water flows.

The throwing of coins into the Trevi Fountain in Rome is a popular ritual that tourists from all over the globe just love to take part in and we could not resist the the legend. What if it is true? The practice of throwing coins in to the Trevi Fountain comes from a couple of legends that explain why so many people are so keen on coin throwing.

The first is that the throwing of a coin over your shoulder will ensure that you will return to Rome in the future. We could not resist the possibility, so when in Rome...

The second legend was the inspiration behind the film “Three Coins in the Trevi Fountain“. This legend claims that you should throw three coins into the fountain. The first coin guarantees your return to Rome, the second will ensure a new romance, and the third will ensure marriage.

The municipality of Rome collects the coins from the Trevi Fountain every day to prevent them from being stolen (they retrieve about 3k euros a day). They have created a fund in order to finance a supermarket for the poor people of Rome with the help of Italy’s Red Cross charity.

The Trevi Fountain is one of Rome’s most well-known monuments and it became even more famous thanks to the film “La Dolce Vita” but The entire area around the fountain is steeped in history with incredible architecture. 

The trevi Fountain is just a wonderful sight to behold and we strongly suggest you visit during the day time and at night, as they are two very different experiences that you 'must do' while in the Eternal City.

Ciao Ciao Roma

Happy Wine Adventures,

Cheers,

WineWalkabout

Kiwi & Koala

Enjoy this little part of the movie with Frank singing the famous song

Fattoria di Montecchio, Olive oil and Wine

Looking out the main entry.

One of the wonderful things to do in Tuscany is to learn about the magic of the food. As we are not that good at magic we left our significant others to learn that magic, oh and cook the meal at Authentic Tuscany, and we had a taste and tour set up by Silvio of his favorite close proximity winery that he set up for us. Don't get us wrong we fully intended, and were looking forward to consuming said magic Tuscan food upon our return. The winery we were sent to was Fattoria di Montecchio.

This beautiful 18th century Villa is in the heart of the Chianti Classico region and covers approximately 273 hectares. The magestic 18th century house stands on a hill overlooking the small medieval town of San Donato in Poggio.

Looking up the main entry

There is even an old tower that was used for defensive purposes during the struggle between the Guelphs and the Ghibellines back in 920. The estate has a wine shop, an olive oil mill and very old wine and olive oil cellars as well as some state of the art production facilities. The estate still makes fine hand made terracotta from the Montecchio kiln that dates to 1700. There is also a magnificent Agriturismo building used for farm stay holidays. We may need to go back and stay! That way we can let you know how comfortable the beds are and how the showers work. You know, doing the hard work.

Silvio told us to ask for Arianna who was ready for us when we arrived. We were to be included into a group she was taking on a tour. While waiting for the tour to start we were shown around the tasting area and got to check out some of the main building facilities. The tour group was from the Tuscany Wine School being lead by Rebecca and they were gracious enough to welcome us along.

Our special tasting setting.

Arianna conducted a wonderful tour of the facilities and grounds and was very knowledgeable about the history of the family and the property. She was also well versed in the wine making and olive oil making processes and was able to convey that information clearly in English with a nice Italian accent.  We toured through the old library storage area and the new production areas and even some of the original barrel rooms with the old cedar barrels. These have been coated on the inside and are now used for storage only. Once we had completed the tour which took about an hour it was time to get stuck into it! We were then on our own as the group had their tasting and we had our own special tasting with delicious and generous tastings of olive oil and wines. Thankfully the olive oil was accompanied by some great Italian bread, or as they call it, bread. We are not big fans of just slurping neat olive oil like the pro's, so the tasty bread was truly enjoyed.

Their wines consist of  Chianti Classico Gallo Nero Docg and Chianti Classico Riserva Docg, followed by two very nice Super Tuscan's. All very good and so we could not help but to leave with one of everything (yeah broke the one bottle rule, again).

If at all possible go by and check this place out or better yet use it as a base to stay in Tuscany for a week. The standard of service, olive oil and wines we experienced were great and we give Fattoria di Montecchio a 'recommend'. Go by and say g'day to Arianna and tell em we sent you.

Cheers,

WineWalkabout

Kiwi & Koala

How to get there, well here is the info from their web site; http://www.fattoriamontecchio.com/dovesiamo_scheda.php?iddovesiamo=1

Here is how we found them;

Standing by the old Cedar barrels.