Vroom by the Sea- Peter Moore

Bought the book at a farmer's market in Stellenbosch for R20. Finally decided to read it and bring it with me on our Northern escapade. Quite an entertaining read and I love the idea of travelling on a Vespa, very befitting for a tour of Italy. Peter Moore was on his last "fling" before undertaking the lifelong and arduous task of being a father. He had looked forward to riding his old , dull Vespa but due to a chain of mis-haps and miscommunication, he bought a Vespa Rally 200 for his travel around the Almafi coast, Sardinia and Sicily. Sardinia is coincidentally one of the places I hope to visit some day. Had planned to go there during my first trip to Italy but it fell through in the end, as it was a little away from the cities we were intending to visit. 

Anyhow the purchase of the Rally (Marcello he was named) turned out to

be a blessing in disguise. With the bella moto, Italians gathered to admire it and thus, he made new friends along the way, and gotten himself out of trouble a few times too because of Marcello. It's strange the impact a beautiful Vespa could have on the Italians. Moore wrote that the Italians were suspecting of foreigners/ new faces and I'd found that to be true. They weren't exactly the friendly and passionate people you see in movies, and I suspect too that the passionate side is only shown to close family/friends. 

I liked the ending of the book, where Moore found himself in a place he had never heard of- Capraia (Capra stands for wild goat in Latin). It is a little, quiet island with volcanic cliffs, clear waters, and without the hordes of tourists. I imagine I would like a place like that. 

Ending on that bittersweet note, Moore found himself back on Livorno for a last drink before wrapping up his "fling" and returning to London (though he's an Aussie). 

I liked that he didn't really have a cast in stone kind of plan and made a few detours to events/ places, that he wasn't in a rush to get to destinations/must-sees. I wouldn't say the writing is out of this world or that the travels were anything outrageous. It just felt kinda  "homely", real, and comforting. Not too bad a vacation read.