On Fri, 23 Sep 2005 14:10:33 +0100, The Reids
<[email protected]> wrote:

    >Following up to Alan S
    >> I have been both a
    >>caravanner and a motorhomer (trailer and RV to the
    >>norteamericanos), and like most of the experienced ones I
    >>met in the caravan parks I'd keep an eye on the mirrors and
    >>pull over as soon as a "tail" started to appear.
    >I agree, many caravanners do pull over, a vehicle cant really be
    >blamed for being slow, its the closed up cars behind that turn it
    >into an unovertakable "super artic". One vehicle is easy to
    >overtake in the Highlands, 10 impossible.

My brother-in-law always used to say "it's number 2 that makes the
queue"

If you aren't going to pass, fall back and let others pass you.

Derek.

On Fri, 23 Sep 2005 14:36:59 +0200, B Vaughan<[email protected]> wrote:

    >On Fri, 23 Sep 2005 08:09:58 +1000, Alan S <[email protected]> wrote:
    >>I've now driven in 14 countries, and been chauffeured in six
    >>others. There are several posting here with much wider
    >>experience than I, like DFM or Miguel. I'd be interested to
    >>know if they agree with my opinion that the Neapolitans are
    >>without a doubt the craziest drivers on this planet.
    >I've had nowhere near your driving experience, but the craziest
    >drivers I've ever seen were in China during the late 1980s and early
    >1990s. The only rule of the road seemed to be that the most important
    >person had the right of way, and all the drivers were engaged in
    >trying to establish the ranking. I was usually being driven in an
    >official car of the State Statistical Bureau, and their drivers didn't
    >want to yield precedence to anyone who didn't have diplomatic plates.
    >Once on a limited-access, divided, 6-lane highway, our driver found
    >the traffic a bit heavy, so he crossed the median divide and drove in
    >the wrong direction on the other side, keeping his hand on the horn to
    >alert other drivers that somebody very important was coming through.
    >One of my colleagues usually made these trips crouched on the floor in
    >the back, in a fetal position with her arms crossed over the back of
    >her head.

In the early seventies, in Hong Kong, they all had these waving hand
thinggies in their cars which used to gesticulate like mad when they
drove like that.

Derek

On Wed, 21 Sep 2005 17:32:26 GMT, "Bill McKee"
<[email protected]> wrote:

    >Nope, been in the Amalfi coast area, but did not drive the road. But have
    >seen other roads very similar here in California and the Rockie Mountains.
    >Also seen head on crashes where the innocent driver on his side of the road
    >is killed.

I remember going in a hair-raising mini bus ride on Lan Tau Island
(Hong Kong) from the harbour up to the Po Lin monastery. This was in
the seventies, before the new airport etc was built.

I was managing OK until the driver pointed out the shrine just down
the hill side in memory of the passengers in a minibus that went off
the road the previous month.

How I wished he hadn't said that ...


Derek

On Thu, 22 Sep 2005 20:58:11 +0200, B Vaughan<[email protected]> wrote:

    >On Thu, 22 Sep 2005 07:28:57 -0700, "Mimi" <[email protected]>
    >wrote:
    >>"The Reids" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    >>news:[email protected]. ..
    >>> Following up to Frank
    >>>>For those who have never driven the Amalfi Coast should keep their trap
    >>>>shut. Your ignorance on the issue is so blatant. Get off your computer and
    >>>>make the drive yourself. Until then, keep your critiques and snide
    >>>>comments
    >>>>to you
    >>> I have driven the Amalfi coast, to Europeans its nothing that
    >>> unusual or difficult. Its just another winding mountain road,
    >>> surely such roads exist in US?
    >>Roads in the US are wider. And it's not just the road, it's the Italian
    >>drivers (and others) who pass on blind curves.
    >There are many very narrow roads in the US, mostly in rural areas.


Luxury! You want to try Cornwall in UK. When I drove down the
road to St Keyne last week my wing mirrors ( VW Passat) were in the
vegetation on either side. Had anything come the other way I was
done for - there was no way I was reversing back up that hill.

Derek

"Derek McBryde" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Luxury! You want to try Cornwall in UK. When I drove down the
    > road to St Keyne last week my wing mirrors ( VW Passat) were in the
    > vegetation on either side. Had anything come the other way I was
    > done for - there was no way I was reversing back up that hill.

Hey, vegetation is luxury. I remember narrow roads in Cornwall with stone
walls on either side.

Marianne

Following up to Derek McBryde

    >Luxury! You want to try Cornwall in UK. When I drove down the
    >road to St Keyne last week my wing mirrors ( VW Passat) were in the
    >vegetation on either side. Had anything come the other way I was
    >done for - there was no way I was reversing back up that hill.

and there's no chance of getting off the road or seeing what's
ahead because of the vegetation filled dry stone walls reaching
up to the sky on both sides and the grass in the middle of the
road is above the bonnet, then a tractor comes the other way.
--
Mike Reid
Walk-eat-UK "http://www.fellwalk.co.uk" <-- you can email us@ this site
Walk-eat-Spain "http://www.fell-walker.co.uk" <-- dontuse@ all, it's a spamtrap
Photos of both "http://www.lawn-mower-man.co.uk"

Following up to Mimi

    >> Luxury! You want to try Cornwall in UK. When I drove down the
    >> road to St Keyne last week my wing mirrors ( VW Passat) were in the
    >> vegetation on either side. Had anything come the other way I was
    >> done for - there was no way I was reversing back up that hill.
    >Hey, vegetation is luxury. I remember narrow roads in Cornwall with stone
    >walls on either side.

Stone? Sheer Luxury. I drove a road down there lined with
whirling steel blades in a car made out of cardboard. And you
tell youngsters today and they don't believe you.
--
Mike Reid
Walk-eat-UK "http://www.fellwalk.co.uk" <-- you can email us@ this site
Walk-eat-Spain "http://www.fell-walker.co.uk" <-- dontuse@ all, it's a spamtrap
Photos of both "http://www.lawn-mower-man.co.uk"

On Fri, 23 Sep 2005 17:55:04 +0100, The Reids
<[email protected]> wrote:

    >Following up to Mimi
    >>> Luxury! You want to try Cornwall in UK. When I drove down the
    >>> road to St Keyne last week my wing mirrors ( VW Passat) were in the
    >>> vegetation on either side. Had anything come the other way I was
    >>> done for - there was no way I was reversing back up that hill.
    >>Hey, vegetation is luxury. I remember narrow roads in Cornwall with stone
    >>walls on either side.
    >Stone? Sheer Luxury. I drove a road down there lined with
    >whirling steel blades in a car made out of cardboard. And you
    >tell youngsters today and they don't believe you.

And you arrived at your destination butt naked?

--
Barbara Vaughan
My email address is my first initial followed by my surname at libero dot it
I answer travel questions only in the newsgroup

Following up to B Vaughan

    >>Stone? Sheer Luxury. I drove a road down there lined with
    >>whirling steel blades in a car made out of cardboard. And you
    >>tell youngsters today and they don't believe you.
    >And you arrived at your destination butt naked?

naked? sheer luxury! Covered in cuts from head to foot, aye, it
were a close shave, lass. With nowt but cardboard box for shelter
and coal for supper when we arrived two hours after we had to set
off again.
--
Mike Reid
Walk-eat-UK "http://www.fellwalk.co.uk" <-- you can email us@ this site
Walk-eat-Spain "http://www.fell-walker.co.uk" <-- dontuse@ all, it's a spamtrap
Photos of both "http://www.lawn-mower-man.co.uk"

<<<That must have been a while ago. It seems that all of them have at
least one self-service pump now.
B Vaughan>>>

<<If June 03 and June 04 "have been a while", at age 73, old age is
creeping up on me faster than I thought.

The stations in small communities did not seem to conform to what "all
of them" do. I did run into self service pumps taking credit cards
during siesta but either the pumps were also having siesta or didn't
like my American credit cards or the most likely the self serve pumps
didn't work at all or they were switched off not to work when
attendants were on siesta.
Pj>>

<It's possible that the pumps you found had a problem with American
credit cards; I've never tried one. However, all the pumps I've seen
also accept euro notes.
PJ>

Whe travelling in Italy I never assume everything works all the time or
even most of the time. Could have been the American credit cards
though. I usually use credit cards everywhere, use an atm only for
emergencies, carry minimum amounts of cash and pay off credit cards in
full online when billed. I recall trying to get gas in a place called
Aqua Pendente and couldn;t find one that would take credit cards. That
goes back to early 90's. though. I remember the name of the town
because I liked the sound of it.,

In 03 waited in a town in Chianti, forget the name right now, for the
station to open and the attendants to arrive from siesta for full
service.
because I couldn't get any pumps to work myself.

Whe the attendant arrived, he was very cheerful and friendly but
enjoyed smoking a lit cigarette while pumping, Since I ran into that
also in Sicily several years before, I got my wife out of the car
stepped back, hoped for the best and maintained a cheerful demeanor.
Ran into that one also some time ago on a back road in Tennessee while
a local good ole boy was fillin' up his pickem up truck, so its not
necessarily only an Italian thing.

re: pumping gas in Italy

Had a temporarary mental pause. The staion we ran into in 03 where I
couldn't get the pumps to work followed by a but smoking, pumping
attendant was located in Greve in Chianti.

I live in SW Georgia, half the year in winter. A daughter, son-in-law
and grandchildren are located in Marietta NW of Atlanta. I would rate
driving the perimeter around Atlanta is as bad as anything I've
experienced including the freeways of LA or Amalfi. The construction
and roads of the Atlanta perimeter are fine. As in many places, it 's
the drivers who create the problem. In the Atlanta area, it's all the
very, very important, highly successful, sometimes vicious, urban Baby
Boomers there all in a hurry to get to very important places. Don't
ever get in the wrong lane of six lanes there.

IMO tail gating is not as bad anywhere as in Germany. I just keep
going slower and slower until they pass and they usually make foul
gestures as they pass.

Driving in Australia is an experience. The Australians are the
friendliest people in the world but they will explode if one makes
mistakes on the road as I have infrequently but fortunately without a
major incident.

Driving on the left in Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas US Virgin Islands,
with only American cars there with steering wheels on the left is also
a situation requiring some getting used to. Forget about passing there
unless you have a passenger in front telling you when to go.

On Fri, 23 Sep 2005 15:18:58 +0100, Derek McBryde
<[email protected]> wrote:

    >On Fri, 23 Sep 2005 14:36:59 +0200, B Vaughan<[email protected]> wrote:
    >>On Fri, 23 Sep 2005 08:09:58 +1000, Alan S <[email protected]> wrote:
    >>>I've now driven in 14 countries, and been chauffeured in six
    >>>others. There are several posting here with much wider
    >>>experience than I, like DFM or Miguel. I'd be interested to
    >>>know if they agree with my opinion that the Neapolitans are
    >>>without a doubt the craziest drivers on this planet.
    >>I've had nowhere near your driving experience, but the craziest
    >>drivers I've ever seen were in China during the late 1980s and early
    >>1990s. The only rule of the road seemed to be that the most important
    >>person had the right of way, and all the drivers were engaged in
    >>trying to establish the ranking. I was usually being driven in an
    >>official car of the State Statistical Bureau, and their drivers didn't
    >>want to yield precedence to anyone who didn't have diplomatic plates.
    >>Once on a limited-access, divided, 6-lane highway, our driver found
    >>the traffic a bit heavy, so he crossed the median divide and drove in
    >>the wrong direction on the other side, keeping his hand on the horn to
    >>alert other drivers that somebody very important was coming through.
    >>One of my colleagues usually made these trips crouched on the floor in
    >>the back, in a fetal position with her arms crossed over the back of
    >>her head.
    >In the early seventies, in Hong Kong, they all had these waving hand
    >thinggies in their cars which used to gesticulate like mad when they
    >drove like that.
    >Derek

There's something wrong with my ISP - I'm seeing replies via
others to me, but not the initial post or even my own. So,
please accept my apologies if anyone responded and I appear
to have ignored them.

Cheers, Alan, Australia

On 23 Sep 2005 12:49:53 -0700, "PJ O'Donovan"
<[email protected]> wrote:

    >I live in SW Georgia, half the year in winter. A daughter, son-in-law
    >and grandchildren are located in Marietta NW of Atlanta. I would rate
    >driving the perimeter around Atlanta is as bad as anything I've
    >experienced including the freeways of LA or Amalfi. The construction
    >and roads of the Atlanta perimeter are fine. As in many places, it 's
    >the drivers who create the problem. In the Atlanta area, it's all the
    >very, very important, highly successful, sometimes vicious, urban Baby
    >Boomers there all in a hurry to get to very important places. Don't
    >ever get in the wrong lane of six lanes there.
Seemed very similar to Melbourne.

    >IMO tail gating is not as bad anywhere as in Germany. I just keep
    >going slower and slower until they pass and they usually make foul
    >gestures as they pass.
    >Driving in Australia is an experience. The Australians are the
    >friendliest people in the world but they will explode if one makes
    >mistakes on the road as I have infrequently but fortunately without a
    >major incident.
Who me? Drove a cab in Melbourne for 17 years; of course I
never lost my temper. Now, if you believe that, I'd like to
talk to you about some wonderful investment ideas...

    >Driving on the left in Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas US Virgin Islands,
    >with only American cars there with steering wheels on the left is also
    >a situation requiring some getting used to. Forget about passing there
    >unless you have a passenger in front telling you when to go.

I took one look and decided to use the "dollar taxis"
instead of a rental car.

Cheers, Alan, Australia

On Fri, 23 Sep 2005 15:39:08 +0100, Derek McBryde
<[email protected]> wrote:

    >On Thu, 22 Sep 2005 20:58:11 +0200, B Vaughan<[email protected]> wrote:
    >>On Thu, 22 Sep 2005 07:28:57 -0700, "Mimi" <[email protected]>
    >>wrote:
    >>>"The Reids" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    >>>news:[email protected] ...
    >>>> Following up to Frank
    >>>>>For those who have never driven the Amalfi Coast should keep their trap
    >>>>>shut. Your ignorance on the issue is so blatant. Get off your computer and
    >>>>>make the drive yourself. Until then, keep your critiques and snide
    >>>>>comments
    >>>>>to you
    >>>> I have driven the Amalfi coast, to Europeans its nothing that
    >>>> unusual or difficult. Its just another winding mountain road,
    >>>> surely such roads exist in US?
    >>>Roads in the US are wider. And it's not just the road, it's the Italian
    >>>drivers (and others) who pass on blind curves.
    >>There are many very narrow roads in the US, mostly in rural areas.
    >Luxury! You want to try Cornwall in UK. When I drove down the
    >road to St Keyne last week my wing mirrors ( VW Passat) were in the
    >vegetation on either side. Had anything come the other way I was
    >done for - there was no way I was reversing back up that hill.
    >Derek

Sure there's not four of you..lookshery, lookshery...next
we'll be on bicycles on gravel sheep's tracks as we cycle
home from t'pits..:-)

Cheers, Alan, Australia