[dclowd9901]

Sorry about the ginormo pictures, guys. Fixed.

The winter wheels were *much* nicer than I expected. I honestly thought I was going to get some crappy steel wheels or something, but they looked fantastic, and I was impressed that they carried the M logo. Nice touch.

The tires were pretty simple Continental all-weather numbers (I think I've seen these tires on a buddy's pickup). I'll check the paperwork later and see if the model # is listed. They did perform great, though. I was driving through sheet rain in Italy and snow in Switzerland, and drove through parts of Germany in the rain at 100 mph without so much as a cough from the handling.

Driving through Italy can be pretty treacherous, especially in a new car, that's, you know, *yours*. People there just don't seem to give a fuck. I parked my car in a Venice garage, (Garage San Marcos) and it was fine. They had me leave the keys in it, so I was a bit of a nervous wreck about that. But they didn't so much as move it.

On the way to Zürich, we pulled off to get some of those countryside photos, and I had stopped my car to let a lady back out of a parking spot in a small village, and she nearly backed right into the front of my car. If I hadn't thrown the thing in reverse and stepped on it, she would have certainly nailed it. Yeah, so, people there are nutty. Lots of cool Alfas everywhere though. I'd say if you're used to LA or SF traffic, it's probably no worse.