Italy - and the pace slowed down

We've been in Italy for a few days and I must say, the pace slowed down. Language is more of a barrier than anticipated. Most folks don't speak English. Or German. Guess who doesn't speak Italian? Funny thing is, the people around us don't seem to care that we don't speak Italian. In spite of sputtering out "I don't speak Italian. English?" they keep chattering away in Italian, as if we will suddenly start understanding. I've walked away from at least two people who persisted in an Italian dialogue after several attempts to communicate that "I don't understand" have gone unheeded.

We stayed one night in an agricamping spot after an unsuccessful attempt to reach Torboule sul Garda (link to campground is here). The roads were fine all the way to the last turn. Suddenly there was a 5 ton weight restriction and a narrow road at a hairpin angle, that was labeled as the "4th exit" off the roundabout. It was at the same intersection as the 5th exit, but required a sharp right turn. We veered left, not confident we could make it and were instantly in a bad situation. I don't know what it is, but whenever I get Dan into small spaces with the RV, traffic seems to instanly appear out of nowhere.

The agricamping site didn't charge additional for showers (many campgrounds in Germany and Netherlands do). I forgot how good it feels to luxuriate in a hot shower, not having to worry about filling the tanks. We were parked in an alcove for RVs that is basically a swath cut out of their apple orchard - the apple trees were strung on vines, much like grapes and looked more like bushes with huge apples.

Not being able to access the lake, we drove on the next day. Milan was the next destination in our travels. It's starting to get cold at night (mid- to low- 30's overnight) and we're starting to think hard about our winter destination. Our electric blanket is a nice luxury. So is the little oil heater we left on the RV. By closing off the sleeping area, we are able to keep the bunks and our room warm overnight.

Please forgive the fuzzy pictures - these are two examples of the scenery we saw as we drove through Northern Italy enroute to Milan - taken out the RV window and sharpened with Picasa. Simply gorgeous!

We found the campground in Milan with no problem. Though we did re-route the directions provided by Autoroute so we would NOT drive through one of the city rings. Lesson learned from Munich. Look at the entire route carefully - there's frequently an easier approach for a vehicle of our size.

The campground is busier than most we've visited lately. Though the pitches are narrow, there's plenty of room for us and we happened to be parked next to a group of folks from the UK who have kids and who are 3-months in to a 1-year tour. Megan is in kid-heaven. She has new friends to play with and a bit of newfound freedom (she's allowed to go to the on-site playground by herself!).

Obtaining the washing machine tokens was not a problem (at 4,50 per load!). When I inquired for dryer tokens (another 4,50 each), I was told they are all out and didn't know when they would have them back. Maybe Monday but could be Tuesday or later. Fortuantely, the climate is drier and the clothesline worked beautifully even though it was a cool day.

Sunday we ventured in to Milan, expecting to find museums and somewhere to stop for lunch. By virtue of us not knowing where we were going, we followed the route to "central station" and surfaced from the subway station in front of a fantastic transportation center (see building in the picture). A huge art exibit greeted us in the plaza and Megan met one up close and personal (she ran into the briefcase of one of hte statues, getting a nice scrape on her nose and goose-bump on her forehead. We felt fortunate that she didn't break her nose.) The streets were lined with hotels and businesses. Everything was closed. The only open restuarants in a 4-block radius were 2 McDonalds and an Italian "Cafeteria" which didn't look at all inspiring!

The good news: we figured out the subway system and the kids were happy to have new toys. =)

The bad news: we ate at McDonalds in Milan. Even in the US, we avoid MD's as much as humanly possible. They are EVERYWHERE here. (Side note: Our camping neighbors mentioned that a lot of restuarants don't open until much later in the evening - so wasn't surprised at our limited success at 2pm on a Sunday).

More on Milan later. Just wanted to quickly update folks on our location.