Bolzano, Italy

I arrived in Bologna, Italy early Saturday afternoon. I picked up the keys for a rental car from a very rude customer service rep (she chatted away on the phone for 20 minutes before helping me). I had trouble starting the car because I didn't realize the key had a magnetic strip that had to be held over a sensor on the dashboard. It was an anti-theft device. I then headed for Bolzano which is a city in the Italian Alps on the main autostrasse from Italy to Germany. I learned how to drive fast and break hard on this drive. Average speed was 180 to 200 km/hr (112 to 124 mph). This is extremely fast by US standards but seemed like normal driving in Europe. Problem is that trucks in Europe carry much heavier loads than in the US and go very slow. The truck drivers thought nothing of switching lanes to pass each other without warning, and hard breaking was required.