Given Toni’s interest in photographing rituals and ceremonies, we decided to go to a Scicli, small town in the Noto region which is reputed to have one of the best Easter celebrations in Sicily. Consequently, we rented a car and set off on a three-day tour of the area with stops at Noto, Modica, Scicli and the Vendicari Nature Reserve.
Driving in a foreign country is always a somewhat anxious at first, as you have to adapt to the unknown customs of the natives. Rules are one thing, actual behavior another. But I figured that if I could drive in Mexico, I can survive anywhere, since Mexican drivers rou
tinely pass other cars in parking lots.
It turns out, Italian drivers are actually quite civilized, as long as you accept the fact that no matter how fast you are going, there will always be a car six inches behind you waiting to pass. No, the real test of driving in Italy is trying to find a parking place.
[Question: How many Italians can park on the head of a pin? Fifteen, unless it is Easter and then it multiplies like loaves of bread and fishes.]
It is not just 
a matter of having more cars than parking places. Rather, it is the narrow box canyons of stone roads in mountain towns. To park, you collapse your side view mirrors, maneuver your car to get close enough to the wall to have sex with it, and straighten your wheels, so other cars can barely squeeze by with centimeters to spare. The fact that they squeeze by your rental car at 60 kilometers per hour is something you try not to think about.
