As comparisons go, we couldn’t have moved further from the sublime Abruzzo region. Not quite ridiculous, but certainly crazy.
We came with no pre-conceived ideas. No knowledge of “Italy”, as such. Just the usual fragments of art, history, culture, food and football. It’s like that feeling you get when you open that really special and unexpected birthday or Christmas present. Not on your “must have” list, but now received, you’ll cherish it. Today’s journey’s presents were just like that and kept on flowing.
A few years ago, just north of Birmingham, about a long throw-in from Villa Park, Spaghetti Junction used to confuse and scare the hell out of many a driver. A series of multi-layered Yankee style clover leaf inter-sections.
Imagine quadrupling its current day traffic. Then placing all of those intersections on one horizontal plane, removing all road markings and signing, including traffic lights. Now add pedestrians and a whole bunch (I mean a really big bunch) of maniacal scooter drivers. Then, make everybody on the road really late for an appointment, or very impatient. Finally and just for good measure, take a larger than life Beastie, that obeys every command from Missy, and throw him into the mix. Then re-name it Napoli!
We had previously thought of Nice as “Scoot City”. Not any more. Beastie was having the time of his life. Cut up from all angles. Hooted at from every which way. The likes of him haven’t come this way since the first pizza bake off. Mary-Ann, too tense to capture the hilarious scenes unfolding as we rumbled through. I thought I’d been filming, but hadn’t. Only managing a few seconds, before I was relieved of further duties.
The section above was probably the tamest. Allowing me just one hand on the steering wheel. Did I mention the road surface?