No, this is not a post about George Clooney…
While wandering down a street in Alessandria, I noticed this beautiful building. I think it was either a hospital or a senior citizen home. As I got closer to the entrance to try to read the sign, I noticed this cool car – my second favorite car in Italy, the Fiat.
FIAT is an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino (Italian Automobile Factory of Turin). This summer, I heard another cute acronym for the Fiat: “Fix It Again Tony”. I can’t take credit for this acronym though. A friend of Diana’s told us this joke while we were having dinner at her B&B one night.
But back to the car…oh I mean the guy in the car.. Just as I went to take a photo, the guy noticed me and gave me “stink eye” (a local expression). That’s my story. Nothing worthy of the gossip rags, just a guy in a car…
shave ice & gelato 
lol – I will go look for my two photos now… :)
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It’s a cute car. And I learned something new: stink eye!
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I love the Fiat 500! Four years ago, while in Palermo with my husband, we saw a 500 in immaculate condition in the giardiniera model (station wagon with a sunroof) that was for sale. We tried to buy it and hoped to bring it home but as foreigners we couldn’t buy an Italian car. My favorite picture of a Fiat is the one in my profile on Slowtalk, a red Fiat on the island of Elba.
When you mentioned the ‘stink eye’ I thought for a second on the evil eye.
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Hi Girasoli, that’s a cute car . . . but it would look a whole lot cuter to me with GC in it instead of the guy with the “stink eye”! :) Ha ha!
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..and here I thought you were going to tell me you met some Italian man!
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Leslie, let us know when you post them.
Annie, isn’t it? Even though I put a link to the definition, it is such an everyday expression here that I keep forgetting that it is not used elsewhere. It is a convenient term to use!
María, that is a very cool car! Do you have a photo of the one you tried to buy? Too bad you couldn’t buy it. I didn’t realize foreigners cannot buy Italian cars. Evil eye would also work for stink eye (just a little less evil than a true evil eye).
Kathy…so true!!
Menehune…I wish!
and…glad you all thought the bug was realistic looking. I don’t feel as bad dragging the custodian to my room.
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No, I don’t have a photo but should have taken one. It was beautiful! I told my husband that we could almost take it with us instead of our luggage. I haven’t given up on the idea of owning one. It’s the prefect size for me!
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I love that car — that’s exactly what I had been hoping to rent (instead of the monster BMW with no keys that I got. Less than fun!)
Maybe the guy just has a naturally sour expression.
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Sandra, sorry to hear you ended up with a monster! That would have been cool to zip around in a little Fiat. You may be right on the guy.
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