Monday, April 18, 2011

Honking our way up Vesuvius

Today we took the Vesuvoexpress train to climb up the volcano and take a look at the crater. The bus drives you most of the way up the mountain, then drops you off at a parking lot to hike the rest.

On the ride over, our driver demonstrated the many different ways an Italian, specifically a taxi van driver, can use his car horn to communicate different messages. For example, it can mean:

-"Sup bro" to all the other Vesuvoexpress driver comrades he passes.

-"Thanks for letting me pass" to the giant tour bus drivers that wave him around even though the roads may appear too narrow for two cars.

-"Heyyyyy, I'm about to come around this hairpin turn.. At 50 miles per hour, FYI" to anyone who might be on the other side of the turn. This is actually the most common use of the horn and most practical.

-"Yo, you got space to move ahead" to the guy not paying attention in the tourist caravan traffic jam back down the mountain.

-"I'm coming back into traffic" to whoever is passing by after he emerges from the curb where he pulled over to talk to his friend he saw walking by.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

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