by Madeline Basarich

Created on: April 04, 2007   Last Updated: April 17, 2007

On a recent trip to the Amalfi coast in Italy, my husband, Matt, and I decided to rent a car rather than deal with the inconvenience of an unreliable bus schedule. We assumed being young and accustomed to dealing with traffic would ensure a smooth transition from Chicago driving to Italy driving. We were almost right.

Despite narrow roads, speedy drivers and very unclear road signs (in Italian none the less...oh, the nerve!), we actually (ok, HE actually) navigated rather easily through Naples, Sorrento and along the coast. It was on the fourth day that we realized we really are just stupid Americans. Did you know that 'gasolio' means 'diesel' in Italian? Neither did we. While trying to figure out the gas pump operation, an old man (bless his soul) tried to help Matt by showing him how to insert money and then choose gas..."Gas?", he asked. "You need gas, no?" "Yes! Yes, gas!", Matt eagerly replied. Unfortunately, what we needed is 'benzina'. And so an entire tank of gas...olio filled our poor little Ford Fiesta. When we tried to leave, all we heard was a sad little 'put, put' followed by silent rolling in to the street right in front of oncoming traffic. Fortunately, nobody hit us. Matt jumped out and yelled for me to get in the driver's seat. "WHAT?" "Driver's seat? I can't drive a stick!", I screamed in horror while tears spurted from my eyes. "Just put your foot on the clutch!", Matt yelled as he took his position in front of the car. "What the hell's a clutch?!" Obviously, I'm not the easygoing half in this union (and maybe not the smartest), but I quickly figured out what a clutch is.

After pushing the car off the street, we were able to somehow communicate our mishap to several amused Italians. A couple was kind enough to drive us to our hotel (despite the mom having to carry her infant son on her lap) and one day and $270 later we drove off in our new Fiat...a Fiat that only takes gasolio. I guess we learned the hard way about filling up in Italy, but I can bet we'll never forget how to do it.

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