The Incident

Cortona is a rather busy little town and if you sit in one place for long enough something interesting is bound to happen. Being a bit lonely I wandered down via Nazionale for about the 20th time today, past the gallery (of course) and down to Piazza Garibaldi, where I sat on a bench and waited unknowingly for the fun to begin. The main road to Cortona ends at Piazza Garibaldi, which is no more than a small traffic circle around a cement obelisk dedicated to the father of a united Italy, Garibaldi. This circle sits high above the valley. On one side a hotel clings to the cliff side, with space for maybe 10 tiny cars to park legally in front. This being Italy, about 25 cars are normally squeezed into a space the size of a postage stamp. There is then a section with no parking as it’s a steep downward hill; next, opposite the hotel is room for about six handicapped parking spots and a bus stop. The fourth side of the circle is the road leading into the circle and the entrance of via Nazionale, a pedestrian street.

I sat on a bench under a street lamp on which was a prominently displayed no parking sign. After about 15 minutes a drama began to unfold and I had a front row seat. A small, argyle-sweatered man in a Land Rover SUV pulled up and let his wife out, then pulled up and parked directly under the no parking sign with the back end of his car sticking out into the small circle and headed off for a leisurely dinner at the hotel. Pretty soon along came the bus to Arezzo. Now, that traffic circle is usually a tight squeeze for buses at the best of times, but with the SUV parked illegally, there was no way the bus could get past. The bus stopped and honked its horn, and then the bus driver disembarked and came ‘round front to survey the scene gesticulating in frustration. Soon enough a couple of cars pulled up behind the bus, which they could not squeeze past on either side, and then the bus to Terontola joined the mess and we had a genuine Cortona traffic jam!

With much creative maneuvering, the Arezzo bus inched forward and back about a foot, cranking his steering wheel madly as he did so, and was slowly able to creep around the Land Rover, although he very nearly clipped the stone moustache of Garibaldi resting peacefully on his obelisk. The two cars passed safely, but the bus to Terentola was having none of it. The driver exited the bus angrily, by which time the driver of the SUV had been located and was made to move his car, tight-lipped with annoyance. The SUV looped twice around the circle, and then zipped into a handicapped spot, where he alighted and strutted off down the street for dinner and a libation. It just goes to prove that if you’re a small man in argyle, the rules just do not apply to you!