Tuesday, April 12, 2005

Things I had forgotten about Italy: Carabinieri

Hearing the police sirens on the air during the Papal coverage reminds me of a very peculiar practice: when the carabinieri are in pursuit of someone, or zipping through traffic under circumstances in which our American police would use flashing lights, sirens and bullhorns, the Italians merely wave a little stick with a little round sign (I mean the size of a paper snack plate) to indicate that you must get out of the way. Or pull over. I’m not sure which.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

You're making me miss Italy far too much. The thing I miss most is hearing people speak Italian. I grew up in a bilingual family, but foolishly refused to learn to speak it when I had the chance as a child.