Hello everyone! This is my first post, FINALLY, I know, but our days have been so hectic and full, but slowly and surely the blog will fill up with all our amazing experiences!
As someone who has never been to Italy, I must say that she's a very welcoming country filled friendly and polite people (not so different from Canada eh?). The easiest way to get a feel of life here in this majestic city, is to take a stroll down the streets. Personally, I was immediately enraptured by the charming buildings with their shuttered windows and grand entrances. But once you've become enamored with the architecture, the next on my list of charming things to see in Italy are the adorable cars and iconic Vespas that line almost every street in this country, making it difficult to miss this cultural phenomenon.
Yes, I know, most of the time, you wouldn't use the words adorable, or cute to describe any sort of vehicle, but in Italy, you can! Here are a selection of cars that are commonly found in Italy of the compact variety. The nearest thing North America has to one of these beauties are the smart car, and sure thing, Italy is full of them! Look out for the white one in a matte finish, since roaming around in Florence for three days, I have already seen this car twice, and finally I snapped up a picture!
The Classic Red Vespa! Such an iconic piece of work, Vespa is Italian for the word Wasp, and was designed around the user. Paggio, the creator of Vespas, wanted to have a vehicle that was easy to use, small, and capable. The Vespa was created to suit the needs of the citizens after the WW2, and soon became an object of desire for people of all ages.
Vespas come in all shapes and sizes! This version is for the barbie girl in you.
The Ape (sounds like App-eh) the word for Bee in Italian is also a part of the Paggio family, This version is more accommodating when transporting larger goods. Like its scooter counterpart, both these designs have wide-spread popularity in Eastern parts of the world, namely Pakistan and Vietnam, where Paggio also has factories.
A very bright duo-tone car with an orange advertisement, spotted twice in Florence! Will look up the model name and type ASAP.
Drivers here in Italy have endless amounts of patience, and will creep up slowly behind you or gently reverse into you if you're Justine. (Thank goodness she escaped unscathed.) Well, this is it for my first post, look forward to more comments about strolling the streets of Italy!
