After two weeks, a motor engine problem light turning on in my car (no worries – it was nothing serious in the end) and 1400 kilometers I arrived in Verona, my first location on my Italian adventure, last Wednesday. And what a ride it was – there is no better way to describe the Alp scenery on the way from south Germany through Austria to Italy than simply breath-takingly stunning! I managed to take a few snapshots of the views (by the way, I do not recommend to try doing this while driving on the highway – sorry, mom), but the truth is that the real beauty couldn’t be captured in a picture. If you are into a real experience, I recommend you drive the way yourself; here are a few teasers:

Views from my bead and breakfast room in Austria, scenery along the way and my car

I spent a few lovely weeks with my family in Germany and thus the ride down to Italy did not even feel that long. As a relatively unexperienced and not yet the most confident driver ever (I bought my car two months ago and have driven very little in the past 10 years before that) I managed pretty well in my opinion, when ignoring the highly dangerous picture taking session on the highway (yes, mom, I promise I won’t do that again) and only a few glitches and freak-out moments. Thank god for the car-hotline I have open 24/7 with my brothers and dad (“Help! Which type of gas should I be purchasing when refueling?” “Where to position the toll sticker?! Oh, NOT in the middle of the windscreen? Can I still move it now?!” “Are you supposed to first park your car or leave it at the gas station when going to pay for the fuel?” There are many new aspects to driving, when you’ve spent your whole life as a passenger day dreaming away.)

I actually very much enjoyed driving, especially on the highways. It was so exciting to drive fast and I could feel my driving skills improving day by day. Driving – especially long distances – is the perfect activity for processing thoughts and I even found it to have meditative qualities to it. It’s the best feeling in the world to have little one-person concert shows with an awesome new radio system playing ones’ favourite songs from Spotify, while lovingly gazing at the beautiful scenery outside, stopping approximately every now anf then for a quick break and the occasional refueling.

One of my breaks was quite adventurous. At the Italian border, I followed the signs of “WC, food, fuel” and ended up at a random area that I think was a humongous truck-driver resting place. Once I had taken the road there, there was no going back. I did find a bathroom, but I had a funny feeling; I could only see trucks everywhere, not a single normal-sized car in this area, let alone any other leisure travelers, or female-identifying persons.. From the looks me and my car got, we started to get a strange feeling that we were not in an area intended for us to stop at. Trucks were queuing to leave the resting space and we joined the queue. Only, the road did not lead up the spot where you seemingly had to pick up a toll ticket for the Italian highway, but another random self-service booth for trucks. My slight panic began to increase into a proper one, when I had to stop at the booth to pick up a ticket of some sorts. There was no way I could reach the button from my car, as I had anyway stopped way too far away from the booth, and thus had to literally hang outside of the window, only my legs still inside the car. I got the ticket and told myself that IF this is some kind of wrong toll ticket intended for trucks only, the worst that can happen is that I need to pay a fine – and on I went with my one-woman show on the highway. I assume the ticket was just fine, as when I left the highway in Verona, I managed to insert it into a new booth (this time I drove so close by that we slightly scratched the booth... Perhaps next time I’ll manage an optimal distance) and was prompted to pay some cash – success!

Another little heart-attack moment occurred on the Italian highway. I was in midst of my sentimental interpretation of one of Adele’s ballads, including elaborate hand gestures, when a car pulled up next to me and started honking its horn. “OMG! I though, is it the police? Did I break the speed limit or do something else prohibited?” The car honked again, and this time I could see the driver (not a police officer) who was smiling and waving frantically. Clearly, this person just wanted to communicate an enthusiastic hello to me – OK, well hello right back at you and on I went. Everyone keeps warning me of the Italian way of driving, but so far I haven’t experienced any radical differences in the local driving culture, except for the normal number of random maniacs. Let’s see how the situation evolves!

Cass on the road

Driving all the way through Germany and Austria to get to Italy was easy, as it’s pretty much straight onwards on the highway. But driving in the city was something else. I still need to get used to the navigator and its understanding of distances. How come “after 600 m take a left turn” becomes “drive left NOW” in a matter of seconds? After approximately 17 incorrect turns and some frustration, not only as my music wouldn’t stay paused (does anyone else need to turn off the music in order to see better, e.g. when trying to find an address or parking?) and a very rapid left turn from a very incorrect lane, followed by aggressive honking and angry stares, I found the Air B n B apartment! I took a careful 5 minutes to park into the narrow street and arrived at the building just on time - only for my host to show up 40 minutes later :)

The best thing about the great Air B n B apartment I had booked for my stay in Verona was its marvellous host Guiseppe. Giuseppe and his family own the apartment and he was overwhelmingly friendly when we met to do the apartment tour. He was the spitting image of a typical Italian man from my imaginations and stayed in the flat for 2,5 hours animatedly telling me about Verona’s history, the way he learned English, all the 20 words he knows in German, about his Finnish friends, his family (including his sons’ marital statuses; both unmarried, but supposedly too old for me), public transport in Verona, upcoming events in the city and nice restaurants close to the apartment. The equipment in this flat is top-notch and I got plenty of good advice and tips. Equipped with these gems of information I felt prepared for my 3-week stay in Verona.

I carried my belongings from the trunk of my car upstairs and started to unpack, before finding the local supermarket to get some more food (delicious, Italian food!). What a wonderful feeling to have had such a warm welcome to town and to have found a safe temporary housing with a homey feel to it - I was ready to start my Italian adventure. Stay tuned to hear about my days in Verona - new post following soon!

Stay well & bacio! Cass 💋