The Italian Lakes - 25 aprile, 2015

14,000 years ago the glaciers retreated northward and left this part of Italy with beautiful deep, blue lakes. There are four major lakes, (from east to west) Garda, Como, Lugano and Maggiore. I have had lots of time to explore Lakes Como and Lugano because of their proximity and we had a great day last spring visiting Lake Maggiore which is about an hour's drive west of here. But it wasn't until last weekend, that I was able to see the largest Italian lake, Lake Garda. 

Lago di Garda

Lago di Como

Lago di Lugano (on the border of Switzerland and Italy)

Lago di Maggiore

Lake Garda sits on the border of three Italian provinces - Trentino with its Austrian flavor to the north, Veneto (as in Venetian empire) to the east and Lombardia to the west, thus providing a rich blend of historical influences, traditions and cuisine. We made a spur of the moment decision to drive the 3 hours from Como to a a scenic village called Malcesine on the northeastern shore of the lake.  It is still early in the season so we found a deal on a hotel room with a great view of the lake and the mountains rising beyond. The town reminded us of the villages in the Cinque Terre, oriented to the water with a jumble of narrow stone streets. The number of cafes and restaurants let us know that this town must fill up as summer approaches.

A rotating funivia or cable car took us up Mt. Baldo mountain to a station at 1,760 meters (over 1 mile high) with a panoramic view of the lake and towns below. This is an area that produces fine olive oil and on the ride up, we saw many old groves that still actively produce an olive crop. We also watched people with parasails jumping off the hillside to soar in the wind currents above the lake. 

From the cable car

Above Lake Garda, Monte Baldo

Malcesine

After a hike high above the lake, we rode back down on the funivia and celebrated the appearance of the sun. The northern part of the lake resembles a Norwegian fjord with steep rock walls and forests rising above the water. The lake here is extremely deep, in places it is over 1000 feet down. Windsurfers and sail boats were taking full advantage of the windy conditions and in the sunshine, the lake took on the deep blue the Italian lakes are known for. We drove up and around the north shore of the lake, by the resort towns of Riva di Garda and Limone sul Garda and found a pizzeria near Pieve with a million dollar view The road on the western coast has been used for filming James Bond movies so Dave got a workout maneuvering the car on the narrow and twisting road. The view is scary but breathtaking. The lake gets wide and calmer at its southern end and one care barely see across to the other shore. Before we knew it, the road straightened out and we were back on the motorway headed home to what we still consider to be the most beautiful lake in Italy...Lago di Como.

Lake Garda looking north.

Lake Garda - west coast road

Lake Garda - Piovere

"The name is Bond...James Bond

Lake Garda - harbor at Gargnano

Lago di Como....still my favorite.

Italian Driving License Part 1 - 12 aprile, 2015

Some people ask me where I have been recently and why I havn't written much on my blog the past two months. Well if truth be told, I have been working at a full-time job....getting my Italian driver's license. I have discovered that there is no better metaphor for what life is really like living here in Italy than what I have gone through in this process. It is important to point out, I do not yet have my actual license (called a patente) because I still have to take the practical driving test....after I complete the six hours of driving lessons with an Italian driving instructor! But for now I am celebrating that I passed the all important theory test.

I have been driving in the United States for 45 years and now besides my Ohio Driver's License, I also have an "International Driver's License" which I got by providing a photo and $15 to the American Automobile Association. We were under the mistaken impression that as long as we renewed that in the U.S. annually, we were legal to drive in Italy. Unfortunately, we and some of our other expat friends have found that that is not true - once one has a permesso di soggiorno (similar to a green card in the U.S.) one must obtain an Italian Driver's License within one year. Now for our European friends, that isn't an issue because Italy allows them to trade their license in for an Italian one. Or if you are from a country like Tunisia or the Philippines that grants reciprocity to Italians, same deal. But for us, because the individual states in the U.S. require foreigners to take their test, we are required to take the Italian test ... in Italian. 

The Italian test, which apparently even evokes fear and panic in Italians covers very detailed information on topics such as engine maintenance, road design and grip coefficients, and five different categories of speed limits which also vary depending on the type of vehicle. Our friend Paolo took on the task of researching local auto schools and was able to order a bilingual manual (404 pages worth) for me so I could begin studying.

Test preparation manual and study materials

Immediately, it became obvious to me that the test was going to be as much a language literacy exam as it was a test of technical knowledge. Up until several years ago, Italy offered the test in English but that is no longer an option. I checked the Ohio website and currently the exam in my home state is offered in English, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Russian, French, Somalian, and Japanese. It can also be given orally if a person is unable to read although it is emphasized for both the audio and foreign language versions, the road signs must be understood in English. But for Americans in Italy, there is no option; not even a bilingual dictionary is allowed during the test.

There are commercial "autoscuolas" everywhere in Italy. These small storefront businesses are intimately connected with the process. Because the average Italian young person will spend approximately 1000 euro to be tutored for the theory test, registered and accompanied to the testing site and taught to drive for the practical test, there appears to be strong economic pressure to keep the process complicated and mysterious.  With Paolo's help, I chose to register to take the theory test as a "privatista" since I was unable to find any auto schools that offered bilingual support. It made more sense for me to study at home and use the computerized tests to practice and review. So I may have saved 350 euros on this phase but it required six separate trips to the Motorizzazione (license bureau) which is located in a desolate spot several miles from the center of town and hours of time struggling to understand which documents I needed, how to get the required hearing and vision tests, where to buy the tax stamp (tobacco shop), and where to pay the test fee ( Post Office). I stood in numerous lines waiting for my number to be called while the auto school representatives went to the speedy window reserved for them.  Where else but Italy would there actually be a bar attached to the driver license bureau!

I have been studying Italian with a teacher for 18 months but I was not prepared for the complicated vocabulary that I found on sample test questions. Verbs like ingombrare (to block, as in an intersection) and smozare (to muffle) as well as vocabulary words like sdrucciolevole (slippery) were words that I had never seen or heard before. 300 hundred flashcards, diagrams, charts, and detailed outlines later, I was ready to give it a try. I know I actually spent more hours preparing for this test than I did for my Nursing Boards when I finished college. Don't get me wrong, I value safe driving and respect Italy's right to require us to learn the laws here but do I really need to know which lane is part of the carreggiata and which is part of the strada? 

After I had all of my documents approved by the Motorizzazione (my third visit), I was told to return in 10 days and THEN I would be allowed to make a reservation to take the test. Finally my testing day arrived and I joined 15 other very nervous looking young people and a few other foreigners in the testing room. I somehow felt like I was in a Seinfeld episode as I struggled to even understand when and how I was to enter the testing room. I had 30 minutes to answer 40 questions on a computer screen and knowing that I could only miss 4 to achieve the mandatory 90% passing score made me so nervous that my damp fingertips could barely register the responses on the screen. But Sister Guilia's prayers must have helped because after the test, I was told by the examiner (and yes, he even seemed surprised) that I had passed. Sadly, I could tell by some of my fellow test-taker's expressions that they had not been so lucky.  I was ready to get my "folia rosa" (pink sheet) learner's permit but of course, was told that I would need to return yet again the next day to pick that up. 

My second home for the month of February

Some people really need a drink.

Foglia Rosa

I have shared the challenging parts but as in so many aspects of my life here, for every roadblock I encountered, I was helped along the way by kind people. This included the woman I met in the parking lot of the closed Motorizzazione who made arrangements for me to get my hearing and vision test and the 18 year old girl who I met in a line and offered to help me study for the test so she could practice her English. The guys behind the counter at the license bureau actually recognized me after my frequent visits and did their best to try to help me understand the next step as I prepare for Part 2, the on-the- road lessons and practical exam.  And of course, there are my friends who have cheered me on - how fitting that my hiking group would break open a bottle of champagne the day after I passed. They gave a new meaning to tail-gateing.

Celebration