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Just back from two weeks in southern Italy. We spent a few days in Sorrento, then a week in Ravello and the Amalfi Coast area with a cooking-themed group, and finally rented a car in Naples and headed over to Puglia for several days of exploring the heel of the boot.
During the day, Sorrento, the Amalfi coast towns (Amalfi, Positano, etc.) and the island of Capri were choked with tourists from coach tours and huge cruise ships, even in early October near the end of the tourist season.
For a higher-end posh hotel stay in Puglia, I cannot say enough good things about the Masseria San Domenico in Savelletri, near Fasano on the Adriatic coast. Check it out at http://www.masseriasandomenico.com.
Traffic in downtown Naples was as bad as (or maybe even worse) than I recall from driving in parts of Kowloon during the many years we lived in Hong Kong.
Fuel prices were roughly $5.50 a gallon for diesel (1.15 Euros a liter) and $6.15 a gallon for unleaded (1.29 Euros a liter). At those prices, a tank of gas for my 2002 9-3 would be about $100.
Our rental car was a tiny Lancia Musa (Latin genus for bananas) with a 70hp 1.3 liter diesel and a 5-speed manual. The trunk easily swallowed our two very large Briggs & Riley wheeled suitcases. With two adults and about 100 pounds of luggage on board, it got 45mpg cruising the Autostrada (usually at 130kmph/80mph) from Naples to Lecce and back, and adding in a few hundred kilometers of exploring the little towns of Puglia, the whole trip averaged about 42mpg – 700 miles on 16 gallons of diesel that cost about $90. As for performance, none to speak of with probably 30 pounds per bhp...
Out of the several zillion cars I saw in two weeks, only eight were Saabs: two 9000s, two 9-5s (one a diesel wagon), three 9-3SS and one OG9-3 Convertible. As for Volvos, not many but probably a few more than Saab.
Easily more than half of the cars I saw were diesels. Virtually none of them showed any smoke from the tailpipe, even passing me at 100mph on the Autostrada
BMWs were much less numerous than I expected, and definitely less common than in Glendale, California (where I live). Almost all of the Bimmers I saw were 2-, 3- and 5-series diesels.
As for Asian cars, a smattering of Nissan Micra, Toyota Yaris and a few Corollas, a few little Mazdas, an occasional Suzuki, and couple of Honda Civic coupes that looked quite futuristic, not the same body style I see here. The urban tuners here in L.A. would be stealing those babies about 2 minutes after they came off the boat. Korea represented by the minicars Hundai Getz and Atos and the Daewoo Matiz.
I saw some terrific small cars in Europe that we can’t get here, and it s our loss. Audi A2, BMW 2-series, Benz A and B series, not to mention the Fiats, Lancias, Citroens, Peugeots, Alfas, Seats, Smart (they have a 4-dr and a cabrio now) etc.
Finally, if I could have stuffed a Peugeot 307CC (coupe cabriolet = convertible with retractable hardtop) into my suitcase, I’d have done it in a heartbeat. I've been a sucker for the little Peugeot verts since we first saw them in Hong Kong years ago.
, Sun, 15 Oct 2006 20:12:47
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