Our first time was in 1984, you know, back in the last millenium. We were too ignorant to be hesitant. No gps, of course, not even very good maps. We got lost a fair amount.
The car was a Fiat Panda. Who knew what that was like? Our daughters insisted that the rear seats were beach chairs, and they weren't far off.
We picked up the car and dropped it in Rome. Getting out wasn't bad. Getting back? Ah, that was a different story. We dropped our daughters and bags at my brother's apartment and set off to return the car. Pretty straightforward. Should have taken 15 minutes, except that another driver forced us off onto a one-way side street while we were circling the Vittorio Emanuele monument. Then the fun began. It was late afternoon on Dec.31. The light was poor. It was hard to read the map, and street sign placement is quirky in Rome, We encountered lots of one-ways and dead-ends. By the end of this caper, my husband was driving the wrong way on one-ways, in bus lanes, and even across the lowest steps of a church. Finally, after an hour and a half, almost by accident, we saw the Hertz office before us, just as they were about to close.
My brother had been ready to contact the police.
I recount this for your amusement and to let you know how much easier everything is now, with gps, googlemaps, viamichelin, etc. Just familiarize yourself with road signs and speed limits. The latter are not always posted; but they are strictly enforced, usually by cameras. You are expected to know the limits for various kinds of roads and in towns. I suggest making a copy of the various signs and taping it to your dash. Really, after the initial unfamiliarity, it's not bad.
