Magenta

We woke up at 6:30am. Early even for us but for some reason last night we were both shattered and decided to go to bed at 9pm.
We’d had a decent nights sleep which was good because today we had a big drive ahead of us.
We left Gavardo at 8:30am and that was a bad move because we definitely hit rush hour. We’re not really sure when rush hour actually is because most shops don’t open until 10am, but obviously there are factory workers etc that do start earlier but we don’t know when they start. It seems Europe has prolonged rush hours between 6am and 10am and 4pm -7pm.
We were now caught in traffic on a motorway making a snails pace.
We were surprised how many drivers overtook us not to get anywhere. There was nowhere to go. Cars were even overtaking each other not to get anywhere but infront. It was crazy.
By 9:30am the traffic had calmed and we had about 20 miles on the motorway which was nice because I just set the cruise control at 60mph and we just bobbed along with the cars. Then we had about 30 miles on state roads cutting through towns on our way to Milan.
Our first stop was on the outskirts of Milan behind the airport at a laundrette. Luckily there was a huge car park that was free about 50 meters away so we parked Wanda there and I noticed a sign that said no parking between 11am and 1pm. Which I thought was funny for a car park.
It was now 10:30am and we ran down to the laundrette which was empty and we put our clothes in and then went next door to the bakery for breakfast. Then we went back to Wanda and ate breakfast while the kettle boiled.
Ellie had just made tea when the timer went off to say the washing was done so we left the tea and headed back down to the laundrette to put the washing in the dryer. When we came back 5 minutes later it was now 11:10am and the car park had 2 road sweepers in it and men with leaf blowers and a traffic warden writing tickets for all the cars that are now parked there.
We jumped back in Wanda, Ellie picked the teas up we had just left and I started the engine.
Before the traffic warden had a chance to get to us we left and drove down the road and sat in a driveway for 10 minutes. There was another car park next to where we had just been but it was full when we passed it, but as luck would have it as we sat in the driveway drinking our teas 2 cars next to each other left.
I swung around in the road and back into the car park and reversed in. It was a tight fit but we now had parking for the 20 minutes the dryer was going to take.
After 20 minutes Ellie went back to the laundrette and I stayed with Wanda. I waited 5 minutes and then drove back to the first car park to pick her up, then we had a 30 mile drive to our park up spot.
It took us just over an hour to get to the edges of the town called Magenta. We’d found another free park up at a camping and Motorhome store with free water and black and grey dump stations.
It’s not the prettiest of park ups and it is next to a major road but it’s roughly at the half way point to Turin and it more than meets our needs.
We actually arrived really early at 1:30pm and we had tea and then a snooze and when we woke up we were bored so decided to drive into the town of Magenta.
It’s a historic town dating back to the 12th century but well off the tourist trail so nobody comes here. I’d already found us a decent parking spot at the edge of the city Center by a shopping complex and we headed there and locked Wanda up.
We headed straight down road passing little shops that were closed for siesta time and after just 1/2 mile we came to the town Center. Here we found the Magenta Basillica, it was huge on the outside. It’s open to the public so we entered through 2 sets of wooden doors that must have been 20 foot tall with elaborate carvings on. Once inside we could hardly believe our eyes.
The place was massive, with huge pink marbled columns stretching from floor to the ceiling. The floor was tiled with different coloured tiles and the ceiling had the most elaborate paintings we have ever seen.
Running down either side were 20 confessional boxes, 10 on each side and above them were paintings that must have measured 10x5 foot depicting the life of Jesus.
At each pillar at the sides were statues of saints with candles and rows of chairs almost like mini churches in themselves. It was an incredible building and certainly the most elaborate artwork in a church we have seen so far.
Back out on the streets we had a look around the shops as they were now opening back up again. It was 4pm.
We took a slow walk back to Wanda and debated on staying where we were for the night. It was certainly quieter but we don’t really like parking somewhere on our own if it’s not a dedicated area especially if there is a dedicated place just down the road.
We headed back to Camping Magenta for the night and arrived at 4:30pm and sat in the back of Wanda watching the crazy drivers on the roundabout until the sunset. It sounds boring but nobody in Europe knows how to use a roundabout so it’s actually quite funny.
We had dinner of Italian cordon bleaus followed by fresh tiramisu at 6pm and then we shut ourselves in and settled down for the night ready for another big drive tomorrow.Weiterlesen