Non-car utopia achieved

[cheap]

Have just returned from a place which has no cars, relies almost entirely upon public transport, taxis and your feet.


That place is Venice.

And it sucks being crammed into crowded vaporetto‘s (water buses), it sucks having to wait upon a public transport system which is so sloooow, it sucks being restricted to their timetable, it sucks to be exposed to the elements, it sucks not going door to door but instead having to walk to-from dinner while it is freezing cold/raining.

Yes it is a nice place, every corner has a story, food and vibe is great, my camera got a workout. But after a week over there I miss the joys that a car brings.

[.:4:.]

I like boats, but ones I drive. I can feel the pain of being constricted to a timetable where as in a car you go where you want when you want. How do you shoot to the shop when the next boat leaves in 20 minutes and then there's a 15 minute wait for the return boat when all you needed was bread?

[roddy1960]

In a country famous for Ferrari , Lamborghini , Fiat , Maserati , Alfa Romeo/Lancia , Ducati , Aprilla , and Vespa just to name the most obvious it seems kind of wrong to have a substantial city with bugger all roads and about 170 different canals.

Then again I suppose the people of this unique city enjoy the fact that this is something special and traffic jams , road works and peak hour would be not something to worry about the same as most other cities.

Do they have a "subway"...just for subs !!!!!!!!!! ..

or can you buy a 'pie floater' , float through bottle shops and Macca's would be interesting.

Never been to Italy as much as I'd love to but apparently Rome has some of the most chaotic traffic gridlock in Europe so maybe the waterways of Venice would be the complete opposite despite the limiting timetable of public transport as described by cheap . Great experience for you no doubt though and the first drive once you got back must have been more appreciated via your comments .

As a car enthusiast , it'd be frustrating and annoying to not be able to have the choice of where and when to go somewhere . I suppose in Oz there are remote places that have extremely limited public transport or community help transport and especially when it's self inflicted like doing your licence for drink driving etc and suddenly it dawns to many that a car is a privilege not a right .

[mike_nofx]

Was in Venice in January. Amazing place, though a full week in Venice only would be a bit too much I’d say. Probably after 2-3 nights there you’ve seen most of what it has to offer. Luckily we were with friends who were locals as we’d have been lost after a few drinks at the bar at night.

What I did like on the highways in other parts of Italy was the lax attitude towards the posted speed limits. We sat on 140-150 most places and still you’d have an Audi pass you at an extra 30-40km/h. People stick to the slow lane unless overtaking too.

[Fordblue1000]

Agree about the euro driving. I was running late from a meeting to get to frankfurt before my flight. Sat on bout 160 most of the way. Roads there are good but the driving manners is the difference. People stay clear of the fast lanes and let others go past. And there is nothing sillier than doing 160 in a citroen hatch and then being overtaken by a smart car. Musta taken him ages to get to that speed!!!
Italy, is a great place. Venice, i did enjoy it. Although very different but was more interested in seeing people dragging their luggage that had broken wheels from all the cobble stone walkways. There is a good repair market there for luggage wheels im sure!

Sent from my SM-G928I using Tapatalk