Driving in Vienna

When I first moved to Vienna from Cairo, I thought I would never be able to drive here. Having done my license in Switzerland, and driven there and in Cairo, I had a solid 3 years experience of driving under all conditions – Cairo’s chaotic metropolis, and the mountainous curvy Swiss roads.

One might ask why I was scared… Vienna is after all a European city, not very different from my native Switzerland, and the rules are the same. Especially after having driven in the Egyptian system, which actually, isn’t a system at all… more of a universal bumper car area. As my dad says, "if you can drive in Egypt, you can drive anywhere."

But I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to get used to the system of traffic control, with all those different lanes for busses and trams and bicycles, the one way streets and brain bending parking rules. I was convinced I was going to cause accidents out of insecurity.

I was saved by my GPS Navigator. It tells me where I am, how far I have to go, where to turn and where I can’t (equally important). Mine isn’t the nicest of navigators; she gets annoyed when I miss a turn and tells me so, reporting dryly that she will now calculate a new route.

Still, it’s saved my life, and I have been cruising through Viennese streets like an otter in water, with no problems whatsoever. Soon enough, with the nice weather, I’ll be able to put my top down, too. Cruising and tanning, my new motto.