Driving abroad (Italy)?

The IDL that the AA issues is nothing more than a translation of your SA Driving License into how many ever languages.

If they can understand English or French you should be good, good luck with trying to speak English in Italy though
 
grim said:
The IDL that the AA issues is nothing more than a translation of your SA Driving License into how many ever languages.

If they can understand English or French you should be good, good luck with trying to speak English in Italy though
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Your worst is trying to get away with speaking English in France! The French go totally dumb if they hear English anywhere near them.

Italians aren't that bad, and once they see that you are happy to have a glass of red wine with them, and tell them how nice their pizzas are, you are home free - they all understand "vino" and pizza" :D
 
Fazda said:
Your worst is trying to get away with speaking English in France! The French go totally dumb if they hear English anywhere near them.

Italians aren't that bad, and once they see that you are happy to have a glass of red wine with them, and tell them how nice their pizzas are, you are home free - they all understand "vino" and pizza" :D
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I actually found it easier to communicate in English with the French than the Italians, I got a couple of blank stares in Italy when switching to English after greeting them in Italian and asking if they speak English.
 
grim said:
I actually found it easier to communicate in English with the French than the Italians, I got a couple of blank stares in Italy when switching to English after greeting them in Italian and asking if they speak English.
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I think it depends where in Italy you go, I didn't have a problem in any of the cities but some of the smaller towns it was fun, at one point we had a 30 minute conversation with some old guy that was prattling on in Italian about the area we were in and we just chirped in with some bad Italian and some English, somehow both parties got what the other was saying :D
 
Ol' Mean Bastid said:
I think it depends where in Italy you go, I didn't have a problem in any of the cities but some of the smaller towns it was fun, at one point we had a 30 minute conversation with some old guy that was prattling on in Italian about the area we were in and we just chirped in with some bad Italian and some English, somehow both parties got what the other was saying :D
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Absolutely, and when we were busy kicking out the Nazis after the war, we got a great reception, no matter what our English sounded like, as long as it didn't have a German accent! ;)
 
Fazda said:
Absolutely, and when we were busy kicking out the Nazis after the war, we got a great reception, no matter what our English sounded like, as long as it didn't have a German accent! ;)
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The Germans seem to love Italy, they were all over the place when I was there.
 
For me, driving in Italy was like a fish back in water. I absolutely understand the way they drive. Whenever I spend time in Rome I stay up in the Via Veneto and rent a scooter to get around the city. Once you've done that and been round town a few times, driving in Italy is a cinche.
 
I have had problems with the auto tollgates refusing SA credit cards. I subsequently only went through the manual ones.

I also found that the Autostrada felt narrower than the Autobahns of Switzerland, Germany and Austria.

Parking bays are definitely narrower, probably designed for Fiat 500s.

Regarding parking, I found no problems with parking in Bologna, Florence, Pisa and Venice (Mainland and ferry.)

I always go for the international driving licence.
 
Fazda said:
I know - after we booted them out in 45, they had tasted Il bello della vita, they couldn't wait to get back! :p
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And in those days you did not even need a passport, never mind a drivers license :D
 
You lot do realise that we don't have a driver's license but rather a driving license?
 
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