Bikes, Buses, & Automobiles

Getting around in Italy

Non proccuparti! È un’avventura! Sono una donna, sono forte.

me, Anna, Joanna, Graziella, & Jianna (me)

I tell my friends in Selinunte, “Don’t worry, it will be an adventure! I am woman, I am strong.” The women laugh, and then they worry. They all have some form of advice for me. Here’s why:

I am in Sicily again, this time for 53 days. Of course, this is a tremendous gift for which I am grateful every single day. But I won’t lie, it does not feel nearly long enough.

It is, however, waaaaayyyy too long for renting a car. Especially since we are now in travel season. Firstly, the Easter holiday and spring break (Italians love to travel for this holiday) and then May, which brings the summer tourists. Renting for my first 3 weeks here cost 420 euros. Basically $22 a day – fantastic!! To rent for another 2 weeks, however, would have cost about 800 euros. Ouch. Triple the cost.

As I remind folks here often, non siamo Americani ricchi. We are not rich Americans.

So, what’s the solution?

By law, no one is allowed to purchase a vehicle in Italy unless they are a resident. For Italians, this simply means being a citizen. For immigrants (as I hope to be), that requires a permesso di giorno (permission to stay). And a visa is required in order to obtain the permesso. But first, one must get an appointment at their “local” Italian consulate (which, for me is in San Francisco – not local at all) and have their application approved. Alas, I still don’t have an appointment.

Unfortunately, owning a home does not allow you to buy a car. And owning a home does not guarantee you a permission to stay. There is, actually, some sense to this, but I’ll explain that another time.

Obviously, the easiest way to get around, if you live in rural Italy, is by car. This seems to be the primary reason expats are drawn to small towns and big cities: walkability and public transportation. But I love my house, and I love the tranquility of living rurally.

Since I can’t buy a car, renting is the only option. Since I couldn’t afford to keep renting after 3 weeks, I needed to find an alternative, at least to get me to the store to buy groceries. (See below for more points about renting a car).

Raise your hand if you’ve ever thought driving a Vespa in Italy sounds like fun. Very Roman Holiday, right?

Think again. You’ve heard how crazy Italian drivers can be, yes? Well, that triples for Italians driving scooters. Honestly, they’re like mosquitoes on speed. If you’re experience is different, I’d love to hear about it!

That being said, I considered it. It looked like I could buy a used scooter for the same price as a used electric bike, so why not? The scooter certainly seems more practical. However, when a friend here who is a retired Italian police officer checked my American license, he promptly told me it was illegal. But, but, but … I protested, online I had read otherwise! No no no, he told me, you cannot. If I had a motorcycle license, ok, but a license only for driving a car? No.

Another option is the increasingly popular skateboard scooter. The African immigrant men here use these all the time, two on a scooter, maybe with helmets, maybe not, on roads where the speed limit is 90 kilometers (basically 55 mph). Oh no no no. I say a prayer every time I pass them. This is NOT for me.

So, this brings us to electric bikes. And this, my friends, is what I purchased. But first, I should tell you about

Getting by with help from friends

And here is where the “it will be alright; it will be an adventure” begins.

I returned my rental car to the Palermo airport, which is about an hour away. The plan was to take the shuttle bus back to Castelvetrano where there are two stops: one in town center and one in the commercial zone. The latter is closer to my house and more direct. Still too far to walk (only 8 km but the same road the scooters take with traffic at 90 km an hour). Graciously my friend Graziella offered to pick me up at the bus stop.

Except that the bus did NOT go to the commercial zone – despite my asking about this before I boarded. Instead, it dropped me in the middle of town. “Where are you?”, she asked, and I could not tell her. Eventually I was found, and we had a good laugh.

So now, the bike. Supposedly only a year old, one owner, great condition, very portable (it folds), comes with a helmet and two saddle bags (good for groceries), all for 600 euro. And here’s where I tell you the really embarrassing stuff.

I thought I was buying from a woman. First mistake. I forgot that every name in Italian ends with a vowel. Simone is male. (Simona is female.) And the Simone selling the bike turned out to be about 19 years old. If I had realized this in advance, well…

But once I was there, I was in a pinch. I needed the bike. I met his mother (whom I swear was his grandmother, but she said otherwise) and one of his sisters, who looked about 40. I gave it a quick ride down the street and said yes.

Then began the 5-minute struggle to fold the bike which seemed impossible, so I said forget it. This led to a 30-minute struggle to close it again. Simone kept saying, “it’s easy”, while being unable to do it. He called his brother. He tried again. I filmed him and filmed him again. There was no way I taking the bike unless it was all in one solid piece. Hey, if he couldn’t do it, there was no way I could!

Finally, closed again, we got it in the car. By this time, I had also realized that the bike was clearly not “almost new”. You can see the damage from where he had wiped out on it. But it was only a week later that I realized the key (the ONLY key he gave me), was bent.

Yes, I’m embarrassed. But it gets worse.

While I still had the car, I got a new helmet since the one he gave me is an XL. Every time I put it on, the Sicilians laugh. I don’t care. I tell them il mio cervello è troppo importante (my brain is too important) and then they say, Si, Si, Si…

But here’s where it gets bad:

Yesterday, I finally took the bike out. I needed to get down to the marina, to Bar Il Pinguino to be exact, to meet a salesperson for a water filter. (I promise I’ll tell you about that another time.) And… it didn’t work. Nope. Sure, I could peddle but the electric component wouldn’t kick in. An hour of texting back and forth with Simone was useless. I discovered a cut wire that I hadn’t seen before. “It’s only for a light that you don’t need,” he said. But WHY was the electric component not kicking in? Because the battery pack wasn’t on right, he said. But of course, I couldn’t get that on correctly because HE couldn’t get it on correctly. Round and round we went.

I peddled all the way to Bar Pinguino. Hey, it’s downhill, easy. It was getting back that was going to be a problem.

Graziella (the owner of Bar Pinguino) called a mechanic she knew. He came over, his family waiting in the car, and admitted he knew nothing about electric bikes. BUT he said, of course the battery pack is fine, if it wasn’t, I wouldn’t be able to see that the bike is fully charged. (DUH! First public embarrassment)

And then, “Look, you have to peddle it always.” No no no, I said. You peddle to get it started and then the electric component kicks in and takes over. Hey, I’m no dummy, I said. I looked at bikes in a store here and the salesperson told me that’s how it works.

Va bene. (ok) He shrugged his shoulders, asked where I was from, seemed to laugh that I was American, kept smiling, and eventually agreed to bring a friend back who does know about electric bikes. Great! GRAZIE!! Except that they would arrive after dark. I still needed to get home before night fell. (Need I mention again how Italians drive?) No worries, I’ll walk it uphill if I need to. Yes, yes, I will be alright. We will work this all out tomorrow.

Non proccuparti! È un’avventura! Sono una donna, sono forte.

And so, helmet on, laughter subsided, frowns abundant, I got on my way.

Turns out, going up the hill wasn’t as difficult as I expected. I kicked the gear down from 7^th to 5^th and then to 3^rd. Wow. Okay. And by the time I reached the top, I had a hunch.

Halfway home, I was pretty sure I was right. And pretty sure I had been wrong.

I texted my friend Heidi in the States who has an electric mountain bike. She, in turn, called. (WhatsApp is great for this, btw.)

Yes, I was correct, many electric bikes require you to peddle and then the electric takes over and you just ride, your feet in a coasting position. But her bike, she said, requires you to always keep peddling. The electric component only provides assistance. And my bike, like hers, is a mountain bike. It makes sense that a mountain bike would require you to keep peddling. I mean, what’s the point of a mountain bike if you’re not actively riding it?

“Graziella? Yes, I’m home. Tutto bene. (All is okay.) Also, I am an idiot. I was wrong and Massimo was correct. The bike works. The thing is… well… I need to keep peddling.”

Ah!, she said. And then, “Don’t worry, I won’t tell Massimo.”

Thank goodness for friends.

Footnote: I already mentioned car rental costs above but let me add three other important things you’ll want to know if you travel to Italy.

1. You’ll be tempted to rent a Fiat. Don’t. Yes, the Fiat Panda is fun and the 500 is cool. They are also the least expensive of small cars. I rented both during my first trip in 2020 and yes, they’re great if you’re driving in small towns, as the streets are narrow. BUT Pandas are stolen A LOT!! I know this from my Sicilian friends and sure enough, when I mentioned this to Piedro at LOCAUTO a few weeks ago, he shook his head in agreement and gave me a different car instead.

Also, if you’re driving in Sicily, you’ll likely drive on A29. This highway spreads across the north of the island and then south from Palermo (and the airport) down to Castelvetrano (where I live). The problem is that this highway sits high above the valley in long stretches and the wind in Sicily can be strong. Very strong. The Fiat is a very light car. White knuckling the wheel, afraid you’re going to be blown into another lane if not completely off the road, is not the way to enjoy your trip. The fast drivers all around you are bad enough. Don’t rent a Fiat.

2. The prices I mentioned above are for just one driver and with no extra insurance. Unless you’re traveling alone or only renting for a few days, I strongly suggest adding another driver. Driving in Italy can be exhausting. Also, you’ll need one in an emergency. Last spring when I was in excruciating pain due to a tooth infection and we had only paid for me, we were in a lurch. In the middle of the night when Tom wanted to take me to the ER, he couldn’t. Obviously, I lived through it, but I will never put us in that position again. If there are two or more of you, have a second driver. Yes, there’s a catch. The second driver costs a minimum of 200 euros more. If you’re as frugal as we are, you’ll hesitate. Don’t. Consider the cost as insurance.

3. And finally, insurance. The prices above are only for the standard offered with every rental – as in, the cheapest of prices, nothing more. We rely on Visa’s insurance, which acts as primary insurance when driving Internationally for 31 days or less and covers all physical damage to the car and stolen vehicles. Your car insurance back in the States is your supplemental coverage for everything else, but only for rentals of no more than 15 days. Call VISA or your other credit cards for more information.