CNN Ducati Video

So....the first morning I woke up in Rome I turned on the TV and it lit up to the MotoGP 250 race - live. FAK!!! I went up to the roof-top breakfast patio and they had a TV on there and they were watching the race there!

Then, later, in Chioggia, CNN Eurpore ran this bit...

Motorbikes and musicians - CNN.com

My wife says I was in heaven because I found a whole country where everyone drives like me. I'm telling you, the Italians drive freekin' great. Real lane discipline, no road rage, fast but aware, and a completely rational approach to lane splitting! In the cities there are 1000 scooters to every car. They are everywhere, going fast, splitting lanes on both sides and I didn't see a single close call. BEAUTIFUL!

We are so very whacked the we we approach the road here. I get on 93 in Mass and am even more annoyed, knowing that the way people drive here isn't some sort of 'natural order of things' but that driving here is a chore. Oh, and until I got out into the Chianti region on a Saturday I didn't see any sport bikes. Scooters and the few VStroms, Beemers and Honda 599s I saw were viewed as TRANSPORTATION...not a sport!

That Saturday though, I could hear something going on about a mile from the Farmhouse we were staying in, so I drove the car out the dirt road onto the road that goes from Pisa to San Gimignano...and there they were. A dozen or so sport bikes ripping back and forth, full race gear, and just having a blast. And it all looked perfectly natural!

I love Italy. I want to be born again as an Italian gigolo...