To the Alps, part 8: Verona

Take note – story published 7 years ago

On day 8 of their adventures, Arvils and Elvijs have arrived in Verona on their way to Spain.

There are seven of us eating breakfast together - me, Elvijs, our hosts Tania, Verena and Julia, adn Kris and Stefi as guests. Kriss takes us to the bus stop, from which we can get to the Olympic Sports Center where we can hitchhike better. Our way in Italy will lead us to Verona, and then to Milan and through Genoa into France.

As we arrive, a senior cyclist approaches us and says we have to go hitchhike to another place. Following his directions we get to a street leading to a highway to Italy. However soon after a driver stops saying we should go to the place we were before.

However before we've walked a block, a car stops with a dark-skinned guy saying: "Hop right in, I'll take you ahead!" He drops us off at a large parking spot.

Šīs dienas statistika:

Ar 3 auto mēroti 180km
Ar 2 vilcieniem mēroti 100km
Iztērēti 19€, tai skaitā:
   2.50€*2 - vilciena biļete Trento-Ala
   5.50€*2 - kebabs ar frī un dzērienu
   3€ - vistas nageti
Stopēšanas kausa izcīņa:
Arvils 11+1:6+1 Elvijs

At the place where we're hitchhiking there are exits leading to the border between Austria and Italy and the second leading to Innsbruck. At one point I notice an Alfa Romeo from Italy stopping at a nearby McDonald's with a couple leaving the car to go eat.

I approach the young man who says he'll take us to Italy but not Verona as he lives close to the border. On the way we see more of the Alps, which are becoming higher and much more densely covered with snow.

It's interesting that the couple are speaking German, even though they're both from Italy.

We arrive as far as Bolzano with them and try riding the train for free in Italy. However the ticket inspector is not moved and he asks us to step off at the next stop.

We've no idea where we are. The map says that a place that could be suitable for hitchhiking is about 4 km away.

As we're walking we notice a huge apple orchard on one side of the street and three goats in another. As I'm making a sign for Trento, Elvijs departs on a mission for the apples. 

Soon enough our bag is so full with apples that it's difficult to shut. And the apples are so sweet and juicy!

It starts raining and that slims our chances as drivers don't like wet hitchhikers. We try showing the drivers how bad it is walking in the rain, and it works as a car stops a little ahead of us.

A graying man with his wife and a younger lady take us in their car. They all speak good English and say that we'll get to Trento without any troubles. We talk about Italian stereotypes on the way, like pizzas. When we tell them that we're putting tomato paste on our pizzas, they grab their heads and say "Oh, no, no, no, no, noooo! It's poison!" They leave us at the station after a half an hour drive.

A train leaves for Verona after fifteen minutes. We buy the cheapest ticket to the next stop in hopes that the ticket inspector will forget that we have to step off. 

However we get to Verona on the train without encountering a ticket inspector. We're told that here there are no ticket inspectors but frequent ticket controls that dole out fines. It's already dark when we're in Verona.

We fail to find a place to stay on Couchsurfing. It's raining and we have no way of getting out of the city to build a tent.

Having eaten a very average kebab we return to the hotel where the administrator allowed us to use Wi-Fi for free. She doesn't allow us to stay at the front desk until our train to Milan at 5.40 a.m. We walk around the center of Verona, looking for a connection and a place to charge our phones. And most of all we're looking for Juliet. We don't find any of them but do see the Verona theater and other impressive buildings.

After wandering for a long time we find a closed restaurant that hasn't chained its chairs to the tables. We settle down and tie our bags to the chairs so that we're not robbed if we fall asleep.

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