Full name: Vroom with a View: In Search of Italy's Dolce Vita on a '61 Vespa

Author: Peter Moore Year: 2003 Rank: Rating: Original Rating: Pop Rating: Genres/categories: Travel, Non Fiction Culture: Italy Purchase/reserch links: Goodreads Amazon LibraryThing ISBNs: 9781933572017 1933572019

It was love at first sight--the Vespa had everything he wanted--a few dents and scratches, saddle seats and temperamental electrics. When Moore sat on it for the first time, he felt like a sharp-suited, Ray Ban wearing young Marcello Mastroianni. Riding the back roads, visiting small towns, sleeping in haylofts, Moore shows us an Italy rarely seen--from picnicking in the Italian Alps to rattling through cobbled hilltop towns to gate-crashing France Mayes's villa. When Moore's girlfriend, Sally, joins him for two weeks on the road, his fantasy is complete, summer in Italy on a Vespa with too much chrome and a pretty girl riding on the back. But it is Sophia's delicate constitution we owe the greatest gratitude. Her need for constant pampering and frequent stops hypnotizes all those who gaze upon her. The locals, unaccustomed to foreign visitors, graciously invite Sopia (and Moore) into their homes, inns and restaurants to share their memories of their first Vespa; their first serious romance. Sophia forced Moore to slow down, gave him time to enjoy the simple beauty of Italy and its people--and let him experience Italy's dolce vita. Similar books: The Wrong Way Home by Peter Moore Swahili for the Broken-hearted by Peter Moore Italy Out of Hand by Barbara Hodgson Old Calabria by Norman Douglas The Rough Guide to Italy by Ros Belford A Traveller in Rome by H. V. Morton Italian Days by Barbara Grizzuti Harrison Italian Hours by Henry James Vroom by the Sea by Peter Moore Within Tuscany by Matthew Spender A Small Place in Italy by Eric Newby Italian Ways by Tim Parks Too Much Tuscan Sun by Dario Castagno La Bella Figura by Beppe Severgnini Lonely Planet Italy by Damien Simonis In Sicily by Norman Lewis Venice Is a Fish by Tiziano Scarpa The Ancient Shore by Shirley Hazzard Seasons in Basilicata by David Yeadon