While I was home (i.e. the U.S.) a few weeks ago, people kept asking me about the price of gas in Italy.  I shamefully had to admit that I didn’t really know.  I have selective memory and that’s the sort of thing I tend to block out, and of course it all has to be converted (liters to gallons, euro to dollars), and I hadn’t packed a calculator. 

Now, however, I have that info. for you, and if your response isn’t roughly ‘Holy cr*p!’ there’s something wrong with you.

Here’s the math:

A liter of senza piombo (unleaded gasoline) costs approximately 1.54 Euro.  That works out to $ 2.40 a liter because a euro is worth $ 1.56. 

So far so good. 

But keep in mind that there are 3.79 liters in a gallon, so you have to multiply $ 2.40 by 3.79 to discover that gas costs a whopping $ 9.10 a gallon! 

NINE DOLLARS A GALLON.

Which is why, when I get home from work in the evening, I park my car and leave it there, untouched, until the following morning.  Wouldn’t you?