Paradise Found: A Journey to Scootering's Garden of Eden, Part 1

The first time I became aware of Vespa tours in Italy was when I was at Vespa Seattle purchasing my first scooter, a pristine white ET4, in 2003. Among all the other irresistible offerings like scooters, jackets, helmets, and all the must-have little trinkets, I noted some brochures from a company called Italiatour that was promoting a Vespa tour of Tuscany. I was fascinated by the idea; spend a week with a group of new friends riding matching red Vespa ETs in the hills of the Chianti region of Tuscany, taking in the sights, and enjoying the food, wine, and culture of this storied region. They even let you keep your bright red Vespa helmet at the end of the tour to boot!

The whole idea was absolutely irresistible to me. As a new scooterist, I was thoroughly enjoying re-discovering Seattle from the saddle of my shiny new Vespa. When you're not insulated from the world around you by the confines of an automobile, everything old becomes new again. A trip down the Seattle waterfront became a symphony of sights, sounds, and smells. People smile and wave as you go by, and best of all, you just feel......free! Since Italy was the birthplace of the scooter as we know it, what could be more logical than to one day go on a pilgrimage? Just as all good Muslims make the Hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca, once in their lives, so too would I travel to Where It All Began; the land of Vespa, Lambretta, Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni, and La Dolce Vita! As I studied the brochure while sitting on my new scoot at the base of Seattle's Harbor Steps (imagining they were Rome's famous Spanish Steps), I was seeing myself as Gregory Peck, squiring Audrey Hepburn around the Eternal City on the back of my Vespa. The seed was planted; I knew, one day, I would go.

Seriously; what scooterist doesn't see themselves as either Audrey or Greg in "Roman Holiday". If your scoot is just a hunk of metal transporting your derrierre from point 'A' to point 'B', please don't bother with any more installments of this series; this just ain't for you!

I probably should've jumped at the opportunity at the time, because since this was a new product from Italtour, they had low introductory prices. By the time I got serious about checking it out a couple of years later, the program had been taken over by Colorado-based Italy by Vespa, and was being presented as a high-end vacation experience. As such, it was featured in magazines and media that cater to the Carriage Trade, such as the Robb Report and the Fine Living cable channel. Needless to say, the experience had a price tag to match.

But last year, with a milestone birthday approaching (don't ask!), I decided to go for it, and started watching the Dollar-Euro exchange rates, since IbyV trip prices are in Euros. It seemed the fates were conspiring to make my dream a reality, as during the time I watched the exchange rates, the Euro fell from it's highest point ever against the good old Greenback (1 Euro = $1.58USD) to nearly it's lowest (1Euro=$1.28). This translated to nearly a $2000 savings on the price of the trip, so I figured if I was going to make my move, now was the time. I booked the trip, and it was Italia, here I come!

As luck would have it, not long after I 'pulled the trigger' on taking the trip, the US Dollar started to slide against other major currencies again, and currently trades at about $1.40 to one Euro. Usually, I'm the sort of person who buys high and sells low, so actually timing things right is a highly unusual, albeit much appreciated treat!

Next: Off to Italia, and nothing Old World about mass transit, Italian style!strong>