Saturday 13 December 2008

Leaving Lake Garda

Left lake Garda, such a vast lake with lofty mountains, like on the bags of flour (or used to be).

The Journey to Verona took me along the motorway, something I’d done before on this trip only to find an anomaly in the motorway tool booth system.

Approach 3 lanes toward booths 1 red light showing, two green lights showing, so far so good. One of the lanes is telepass automatic billing, so the other lane is me.

Simple says biglhetti ticket to you and shows flowing cash symbol as well as credit payments.

Well nobody's in the booth so I can’t pay with cash, it does not dispense tickets and wants me to pay with my credit card for 60 cents! which is stowed away in the black pig.

I bang the bell for assistance and they rattle away at a hundred knots. I explain that I speak no Italiano, and the Italian woman comes on at me with higher decibels, which grates so I lean on the van - I’ve got all day! (unlike the ten or so behind me who are honking like mad the man two cars behind, who asks if he can help he’s German!)

I explain the problem, he bellows down the speaker "ticket issued" and he explains the minimum charge. They should have the cash booth open but the man probably has not come to work, and no cover! all you will have to pay is 60 cents at the post office. Ok, so off I go, but I've not gone 4 miles when there is a traffic accident - a lorry shed it's load on the motorway, so we were diverted back onto the motorway I’d just come off of, and of course I'm faced with the same problem! only this time the same Italians are looking out of the booth and pointing at the British reg.

I pull up and the ticket magically comes out as before. I shout mille grazie they all wave!

When I want to come 100km later they're in a ticket booth but not for my tickets so I go through the staggered telepass barrier, the only other available option and park up across 3 lanes of traffic. They won't come to you so they just stand there in the hi visibility jackets posing, so I go over and show him my two tickets, pay 20 euros and try to explain the problem. I need to pay motorway charges i.e. just been on but he waves me away like Il duce, 12 euros saved. You couldn't make it up if you tried.

Reach Verona, see the opera house, I take a look in but no Egyptians at home, so I took a few photos.

I also parked wrongly apparently, carabinere shouting "automobile non furgone" which fortunately I knew, so I buggered off quick but couldn't find a campsite nearby so went to Padova to stay the night.

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