It was love at first sight--the Vespa had everything he wanted--a few dents and scratches, saddle seats and temperamental electrics. When Moore sat on it for the first time, he felt like a sharp-suited, Ray Ban wearing young Marcello Mastroianni. Riding the back roads, visiting small towns, sleeping in haylofts, Moore shows us an Italy rarely seen--from picnicking in the Italian Alps to rattling through cobbled hilltop towns to gate-crashing France Mayes's villa. When Moore's girlfriend, Sally, joins him for two weeks on the road, his fantasy is complete, summer in Italy on a Vespa with too much chrome and a pretty girl riding on the back. But it is Sophia's delicate constitution we owe the greatest gratitude. Her need for constant pampering and frequent stops hypnotizes all those who gaze upon her. The locals, unaccustomed to foreign visitors, graciously invite Sopia (and Moore) into their homes, inns and restaurants to share their memories of their first Vespa; their first serious romance. Sophia forced Moore to slow down, gave him time to enjoy the simple beauty of Italy and its people--and let him experience Italy's dolce vita.
My name is Peter Moore and I'm an Australian travel author.
Basically, my job is to go on grand journeys and write about them. I've travelled overland from London to Sydney (The Wrong Way Home), from Cape Town to Cairo (Swahili for the Broken-Hearted) and around Italy on a forty-year-old Vespa (Vroom with a View). I also travelled around Central America with a girl I'd only just met (The Full Montezuma). I'm just finishing a book about driving around Australia in an old car with a new wife (Crikey!).
I'd like to think that my books convey the stuff that I love about travelling - the people you meet and the crazy situations you find yourself in. I constantly find myself in situations that you couldn't make up. Like sheltering in a coffin shop during a riot in Addis Ababa. Or being assured by an Iranian nuclear physicist that my country would be safe in the event of a nuclear war. And I'm constantly overwhelmed by the hospitality of people in even the poorest countries
If I had to describe my books I'd say they were kind of like a cross between Bill Bryson and Paul Theroux. But whereas Bill and Paul can flash their platinum Amexes, I have to be a bit more careful with my pennies. But to be honest I've found that's the best way to meet the locals.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy my books. As Oprah would say "they'll make you laugh, they'll make you cry, they'll change your life."
Well, at least I wish she'd say that.
