No, this is not a post about George Clooney...
I saw this cool car while in Alessandria this summer. My second favorite car in Italy, the Fiat. FIAT is an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino (Italian Automobile Factory of Turin). This summer, I heard another cute acronym for the Fiat: "Fix It Again Tony". I can't take credit for this acronym though. A friend of Diana's told us this joke while we were having dinner at her B&B one night. But back to the car...oh I mean the guy in the car.
While wandering down a street in Alessandria, I noticed this beautiful building. I think it was either a hospital or a senior citizen home. As I got closer to the entrance to try to read the sign, I noticed this cool car. Just as I went to take a photo, the guy noticed me and gave me "stink eye" (a local expression). That's my story. Nothing worthy of the gossip rags, just a guy in a car...
(p.s. I added my bug photo to my "eek a bug" post. It is not a great photo but the best my classroom camera could take.)
Comments (9)
lol - I will go look for my two photos now... :)
Posted by Leslie | September 15, 2008 11:19 PM
Posted on September 15, 2008 23:19
It's a cute car. And I learned something new: stink eye!
The bug DOES look very realistic - that is such a funny story!
Posted by Annie | September 16, 2008 3:22 AM
Posted on September 16, 2008 03:22
I love the Fiat 500! Four years ago, while in Palermo with my husband, we saw a 500 in immaculate condition in the giardiniera model (station wagon with a sunroof) that was for sale. We tried to buy it and hoped to bring it home but as foreigners we couldn’t buy an Italian car. My favorite picture of a Fiat is the one in my profile on Slowtalk, a red Fiat on the island of Elba.
When you mentioned the ‘stink eye’ I thought for a second on the evil eye.
The bug looks very real to me.
Posted by María I. | September 16, 2008 7:00 AM
Posted on September 16, 2008 07:00
Hi Girasoli, that's a cute car . . . but it would look a whole lot cuter to me with GC in it instead of the guy with the "stink eye"! :) Ha ha!
Posted by Kathy (Trekcapri) | September 16, 2008 5:23 PM
Posted on September 16, 2008 17:23
..and here I thought you were going to tell me you met some Italian man!
Posted by menehune | September 17, 2008 8:51 AM
Posted on September 17, 2008 08:51
Leslie, let us know when you post them.
Annie, isn't it? Even though I put a link to the definition, it is such an everyday expression here that I keep forgetting that it is not used elsewhere. It is a convenient term to use!
María, that is a very cool car! Do you have a photo of the one you tried to buy? Too bad you couldn't buy it. I didn't realize foreigners cannot buy Italian cars. Evil eye would also work for stink eye (just a little less evil than a true evil eye).
Kathy...so true!!
Menehune...I wish!
and...glad you all thought the bug was realistic looking. I don't feel as bad dragging the custodian to my room.
Posted by girasoli | September 17, 2008 12:28 PM
Posted on September 17, 2008 12:28
No, I don't have a photo but should have taken one. It was beautiful! I told my husband that we could almost take it with us instead of our luggage. I haven’t given up on the idea of owning one. It's the prefect size for me!
Posted by María I. | September 18, 2008 4:48 AM
Posted on September 18, 2008 04:48
I love that car -- that's exactly what I had been hoping to rent (instead of the monster BMW with no keys that I got. Less than fun!)
Maybe the guy just has a naturally sour expression.
Posted by sandrac | September 22, 2008 10:29 AM
Posted on September 22, 2008 10:29
Sandra, sorry to hear you ended up with a monster! That would have been cool to zip around in a little Fiat. You may be right on the guy.
Posted by girasoli | September 22, 2008 2:46 PM
Posted on September 22, 2008 14:46