Sunday, 9 August 2015

That'll Be A €60 Fine, Then

We were sitting outside Meeting Bar in Acciaroli
this morning, enjoying a pre-lunch drink.
The sun was shining in an almost cloudless sky
and there were lots of comings & goings
of various locals and holidaymakers alike,
 pulling up in cars &
offloading passengers to shoot in to
pick up dolce for post-lunch. 
At the particular moment that the Polizia Locale car
pulled up outside the church,
there were a couple of cars & a Vespa 
or two parked up.

As both female officers got out of the vehicle,
one of them gave 3 sharp trills on her whistle;
this warning to illegally parked motorists that 
the Polizia are about and ready  to start handing out
parking tickets always makes us chuckle - 
no way would you get such a warning in the UK.
(I should point out that, around here,
motorists MUST park in a marked 
parking space, otherwise they're parked illegally).

There was an ice cream coloured VW Beetle with its
roof down parked a few metres along from the bar. The officer blew her whistle again as she walked towards it; the owners of the other cars all scooted out & drove off.  

Another 3 whistle blasts, and that was it - final warning had been given - pen was put to paper.
Too late, the owner & his two passengers 
came back to the car, to find a 
Penalty Notice attached to the windscreen. 
He argued half heartedly, but he knew it 
was too late - once the ticket is written, 
it can't be cancelled.
And so, his Sunday morning bar bill suddenly jumped by a further €60.