Driving day from Trans-en-Provence by motorway to Genova. The number of tunnels after the border is impressive. The arrival in Genova was daunting as the city is so populous. I looked, in vain, for a shop to buy a SIM card. Bad luck on Monday January 2, except the bistros, everything is closed. I had a parking lot planned on a hill overlooking the city. The winding route on a narrow road lined with parking lots limited it to a single lane with very problematic crossings. The summit was in the mist with a strong wind. The night alone was noisy with the wind.
The descent of the hill by the same route, still in the mist, was less painful. I was again looking for a Sim card. The day before I had obtained the address of a shop, open, selling second-hand equipment. I got a 50 MB SIM card. The weather was chilly and it was already well into the morning. I took the highway for Torino under a persistent drizzle where I arrived in the afternoon. The planned parking lot near the Olympic Park was inaccessible. I bivouacked on the central reserve of a four-lane roadway
Wednesday January 4 I got up to rest after a long peaceful night. I had planned to visit the old town of Torino. Although the traffic is fluid, it was painful for a stranger to the city with regard to the trams of all kinds and of course to the works inherent in large cities. In addition, the number of cars parked along the sidewalks as well as the underground car parks limited to a maximum of 2 meters made the visit almost impossible, except on foot. I was content with Piazza de San Carlo, putting the truck in the square, engine running meaning that I was not parked but stationary! Annoyed, I returned to my previous bivouac, stopping at the local Lidl. I realized that I was no longer fit to visit the cities to admire the very famous monuments and museums in Italy; I am at my twilight.
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Thursday January 5 was a disappointing day like in Turin. I wanted to visit two renowned museums as well as the Duomo. Alas the GPS, essential in town, was not up to date with traffic changes although I had installed the 2023 version before my departure. As a result I wandered from cramped streets to one-way streets catching cold sweats with the driving of the truck; no surface parking lot. In double file I stole a photo of the entrance to the Ambrosiana museum. Not seen the Duomo maybe in another life. Annoyed, I went to the parking lot provided in an almost deserted parking lot 13 km from the city center. Leaving Torino the fog made driving problematic, I took the highway to Milano. The sun made a brief appearance at the end of the morning.
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| Pinacoteca Ambrosiana | |
Friday, January 06, the days follow one another and look alike. The highway to Bergamo where I followed the treasure hunt to reach the Citta Alta surrounded by walls built by the Venetians, still intact. I entered the city through a narrow door, watch out for mirrors, limited to 3 meters in height. I traversed the rising street at random and with precaution but without being able to park. A horde of tourists strolled here and there in the cold. Several times I was stuck behind cyclists in a group climbing the slope panting. It would have been necessary to walk through the alleys! Going down I took a photo, any, to attest to my passage. Then I headed towards Brescia by secondary roads, not to repeat, too many roundabouts to negotiate at a walk. Brescia did not hold my attention under a low and gray sky with a temperature of 9° Celsius. I parked in the parking lot of a shopping center.
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| Citta Alta, aperçu |
Saturday, January 07, I left Brescia with the firm intention of visiting the Roman arenas, the best preserved of the Roman Empire, in Verona. By a navigation error I took the SS11 road instead of the A4 motorway. Arrived in Verona I went directly to the parking lot of my bivouac. How lucky it is not far from the arenas, so to speak. The parking lot was already well occupied by cars and motorhomes wisely arranged. After securing my vehicle, I planned the route to go to the Arena with the Maps.Me smartphone software. The calculated distance is… 1.5 km in 20 minutes, anyway. Well equipped, I left confident in my visit. Alas all shame drunk I threw in the towel at kilometer 1.8 after 35 minutes of walking. I turned back, grumbling. In riding, a horse that refuses the obstacle, is put back on the hand to cross it again, so act to follow.
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| Porta Palio |
So Sunday morning from 8 am I put the beetle on the hand and the muzzle in the direction of the arenas. On the way I stopped to visit the Castelvecchio. There were no stairs only inclined slopes for the horses. I continued to the arenas under a little drizzle. Obviously I did not visit them too many stairs. I was content to do the convolution. General fatigue began to irradiate my body from the legs to the chest. The return to my vehicle, 1.5 km announced in 20 minutes, lasted almost an hour and a half with multiple stops. At the entrance to the car park a young couple came to my rescue to complete the last 200 meters. To move towards Venezia I left the parking around 12:30 p.m. for Padova where a parking lot was waiting for me, nay, I coasted around to find a parking space at the edge of the sidewalk. Tough, tough day!
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