My entry into the Darwin Awards (Oklahoma trip)

[zbillster_imp]

I reckon the Vespa is an awesome hop'n'go ride in a pinch?

Great for rock star parking ... you could use a bicycle rack and no one, especially Mr. Law, cared.

But once I bought a house away from urban destinations and streets, and out near alluring farm-to-market roads, I needed something with more oomph.

I have to say it was more reliable than my 1978 Honda CT-90 (which suffered from electrical quirks as it had no voltage regulator, save the battery, so blowing brake light fuses was always a problem when the battery was low). But with some Italian weirdness thrown in. Took a long time to find the right buyer for it ... till a happy college girl stepped up to the plate.

I did rent one in Italy, and it was fun touring Tuscany. Not fun getting the $300 in traffic tickets after I came back home though ... Tuscany via Vespa travel photo album

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I did rent one in Italy, and it was fun touring Tuscany. Not fun getting the $300 in traffic tickets after I came back home though ... [url=https://flic.kr/s/aHsm6sWPDo]Tuscany via Vespa travel photo album
Awesome collection share of Tuscany. Scary Pinocchio.

$300 in traffic tickets from your trip in Italy?

Yes, it's pretty much a scam, both for locals and tourists. No one stops you, it's all done by hidden camera, and they have up to a year to mail you the ticket. You don't pay, then a good chance they send U.S. collection companies after you and suddenly it goes from $150 to $500+. Both were for "being in a bus lane" or some nonsense (I was probably avoiding a Fiat merging into me at the time). I did manage to avoid about $80 in fees from the rental companies for "forwarding my information to the authorities." My advice? As fun as it was, NEVER drive in Italy! [url=http://www.initaly.com/travel/avoid_tickets.htm]Traffic tickets in Italy

I also canNOT recommend the Vespa rental firm [url=https://www.italian-rent.it/]https://www.italian-rent.it/ ... compare the shiny Vespas on their website and Facebook pages to the one held together by masking tape that I actually got. Plus when I rented a manual-shift Fiat 500 from them later, they showed up with an automatic model (facepalm!). I think it's one guy living in an apartment with a couple of cars owned by friends.

And isn't that Gilera poster just awesome?

The scenic, twisty mountain drive to the Ferrari museum was pretty amazing ... I wish I had more time to stop in the little towns along the way. On my last day, I rented a 1200cc Fiat Punto (WITH a manual shift from Hertz ... stick with trusted rental companies) and visited the Colnago factory museum (meeting Ernesto Colnago in person was the highlight of the trip) and the Alfa-Romeo museum in Milan, which rocks. Here are some cheap-camera video walkthroughs of the museums ...