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Vroom with a View: In Search of Italy's Dolce Vita on a '61 Vespa
 
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Vroom with a View: In Search of Italy's Dolce Vita on a '61 Vespa (Paperback)

by Peter Moore (Author)
4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (47 customer reviews)
RRP: £8.99
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Vroom with a View: In Search of Italy's Dolce Vita on a '61 Vespa + Vroom by the Sea: The Sunny Parts of Italy on a Bright Orange Vespa + Eating Up Italy: Voyages on a Vespa
Price For All Three: £18.97

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Product details

  • Paperback: 359 pages
  • Publisher: Bantam Books (2 May 2005)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0553816373
  • ISBN-13: 978-0553816372
  • Product Dimensions: 19.4 x 12.6 x 2.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (47 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 30,484 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #55 in  Books > Travel & Holiday > Countries & Regions > Europe > Italy

Product Description

Product Description

It was the late night Tai Bo fitness commercial warning him that life comes to an end after 40 that prompted Peter Moore to chase a boyhood dream. To go to Italy and seek out its celebrated dolce vita from the back of a Vespa. But it couldn't be just any old Vespa. Peter wanted a bike as old as he was and in the same sort of condition: a little rough round the edges, a bit slow in the mornings perhaps, but basically still OK. And it had to have saddle seats. And temperamental electrics. And a little too much chrome. The sort of scooter you'd imagine a sharp-suited, Ray Ban-wearing young Marcello Mastroianni riding. Her name was Sophia. From picnicking in the Italian alps and rattling through cobbled hilltop to gate-crashing Frances Mayes's villa and re-enacting 'Roman Holiday', Vroom with a View is as much a romance as a travel adventure. For not only does Peter win the woman of his dreams, he falls for a side of Italy others rarely see. Along with Sophia, of course...


From the Back Cover

He was an intrepid Australian author fast approaching forty. She was a fading Italian beauty from the sixties. They first met on the Internet and together would spend one unforgettable summer travelling from Milan to Rome. Only one thing stood in the way of perfect love . . .

Sophia was a motor scooter.

After a late night Tai Bo fitness commercial warns him that after forty his life will be over, Peter Moore decides to pursue a boyhood dream sparked by watching old black and white movies of Sophia Loren - to putter around Italy on a 1960s Vespa in pursuit of la dolce vita.

But it couldn't be any old Vespa. With the big day just around the corner, Peter wanted a bike as old as he was and in the same sort of condition - a little rough round the edges, a bit slow in the mornings perhaps, but basically still OK. And it had to have saddle seats. And temperamental electrics. And a little too much chrome. The sort of scooter you'd imagine a sharp-suited, Ray Ban-wearing young Marcello Mastroianni riding.

From picnicking in the Italian alps and rattling through cobbled hilltop towns to exploring tumbledown seaside villages, gate-crashing Frances Mayes's villa and re-enacting Roman Holiday, Vroom with a View is as much a romance as a travel adventure. Not only does Peter sweep the woman of his dreams off her feet, he falls for a side of Italy others rarely see, along with Sophia, of course ...

'Moore has a parched dry wit, the solid brass cojones of a true traveller and a rare eye for the madness of the wider world.' JOHN BIRMINGHAM

'Peter Moore is the genuine article, a traveller's traveller.' FHM --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.


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Vroom with a View: In Search of Italy's Dolce Vita on a '61 Vespa
73% buy the item featured on this page:
Vroom with a View: In Search of Italy's Dolce Vita on a '61 Vespa 4.4 out of 5 stars (47)
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Vroom by the Sea: The Sunny Parts of Italy on a Bright Orange Vespa
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Vroom by the Sea: The Sunny Parts of Italy on a Bright Orange Vespa 4.1 out of 5 stars (9)
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Eating Up Italy: Voyages on a Vespa
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Eating Up Italy: Voyages on a Vespa 4.6 out of 5 stars (5)
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Sweet Honey, Bitter Lemons: Travels in Sicily on a Vespa
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Sweet Honey, Bitter Lemons: Travels in Sicily on a Vespa 4.7 out of 5 stars (6)
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Customer Reviews

47 Reviews
5 star:
 (26)
4 star:
 (18)
3 star:
 (2)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.4 out of 5 stars (47 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars More Quality Moore, 7 Jun 2004
Peter Moore has always captured the feeling of being a long way from home with nowhere to be and no deadlines. In short, he captures that moment, a week after you start traveling when all your cares disolve and you can wander where ever coincidence takes you.

Vroom with a View in no different.

Taking a suitably sleepy route through Tuscany, Moore sees the countryside at a pace that suits his narrative. His observations are all the more sharp on a vespa that barely and rarely moves.

For those who need a trip away from their desk at lunch time, this book will put you in the Italian countryside, the smell of the wheat, the sight of sunflowers and the conversation of strangers.

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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Light and breezy, rarely backfires, 1 Feb 2004
By A Googly (London, UK) - See all my reviews
Combine the humour of Bill Bryson (with whom Moore shares the same editor) and the sprightliness of Tim Moore and you'd come up with Peter Moore. Although not facing the same challenges as in 'The Wrong Way Home' or 'Swahili for the Broken Hearted', this is an affectionate account of a tour around Italy on a forty year old Vespa. It's a fun read with a good tale of highs and lows, complete with a happy ending.

Perhaps better to read after his earlier books, it's good to see Moore is still up to scratch as the self styled 'voice of independent travel'. Make sure to visit his website to see the photos that prove it's a true story! (This is a review of the Australian edition.)

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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars If you feel your life is getting a bit stale..., 28 Jul 2004
By David Veenhuys "David Veenhuys" (Suisse) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
I just finished reading Vroom With A View and I can highly recommend it!. Reading his books you feel you are traveling with Peter, racing your Vespa with him and sharing a well earned drink and a chat at the end of the day. His observations are not only funny but also honest, respectful of people & their culture, and moving at times. If you feel your life is getting a bit stale, read a couple of his books and see how you can change that, go to the very limit of your possibilities, learn new stuff and do wildly different things when you feel like it.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars The initiation of a Vespal Virgin
Whilst not excatly formulaic this book is pretty much as you would expect from Peter Moore. It is the micro scale, flip side of tourism which appeals and endears the author to... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Eric Stephen

5.0 out of 5 stars On two wheels
Wonderful story of a man's sentimental journey through Italy on a Vespa called Sophia. This book should appeal to all lovers of two wheeled transport, sentimentalists and Vespa... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Mr. P. Bailey

5.0 out of 5 stars Dolce Vespa
Funny how this book makes you ponder the worth of buying an old Vespa, even though you know you won't It also makes you think seriously about buying a heap of Kinder Surprises... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Rod De Lisle

4.0 out of 5 stars The Joys of 2 stroke motoring (in sunnier climes!)
A lovely book with interesting facts about the history of the Vespa and its social impact on Italy's society. Read more
Published 20 months ago by A. Midgley

4.0 out of 5 stars Better than the crazy frog!!!!
This is the third of Peter's book that I have read now and found it the same as the other two, I was not able to put it down. Read more
Published on 29 Jul 2005 by phogan110

4.0 out of 5 stars Not Peter's Best
A great book, but not quite up to the standards set by "No S*itting In the Toilet" and "The Full Montezuma". Read more
Published on 18 Jul 2005 by SK

5.0 out of 5 stars Let the sunshine out.
If it is ever a could, damp, dreary day in what ever part of the this big world you are in, then pick up this book, open the pages and let the sunshine flood out. Read more
Published on 2 Aug 2004 by Kentish Man

4.0 out of 5 stars Funny, informative, and evocative
I've read all of Peter's books and although his unique humour and keen observation run through all of them, he adapts his style appropriately to the subject matter. Read more
Published on 21 Jul 2004 by michaelrpreston

5.0 out of 5 stars Americans need to read Moore
Americans need to discover the joy of reading Peter Moore's books! I've read them all, and this is my second favorite after Wrong Way Home. Read more
Published on 20 Jul 2004 by Gail Sadowey

4.0 out of 5 stars Vroom, vroom - Rome Holiday revisited
Ok, I admit that I'm writing this because I went to Peter Moore's website and he's soliciting reviews. BUT I went to the website 'cause I loved the book. Read more
Published on 5 Jul 2004 by Dr. P. Sindberg

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