Dog barking wakes me up. I am wide awake, trying desperately findiing my pepperspray.
But I am lucky, I don't need the pepperspray. Some walker calls back the dog and leaves me in peace.
I smell and a little shower would be great now, but there isn't one. I pack my stuff and drive away. Next to a playground i finally find some drinking water. I decide to wash some of my clothes and myself a little bit. While I stand there, topless, some women passing by, looking quite surprised about this half naked man, but then continue their walk.
At noon I arrive in Bovisio. I only eat lunch or go shopping in places, where I can still see my bike from the inside. and decide to take a lunch brake in the rosticceria mercandalli. It is kind of a typical italian shop, where you can buy, meat, eggs, pasta and so on. Attached to the shop is a chickengrill, and according to some newspaper article on the wall, the shop has been in existence for 100 years or so. I don't remember exactly.
While I'm eating, i get into a chat with the owner. Giuseppe speaks fluent english, while I almost don't speak any italian. I often regret not having learned a little italian before. We have a nice chat and he tells me, that he drove through Switzerland with his motorbike, while I tell him about my journey to Africa. As I also drive a motorbike and he knows more or less the route I had taken so far, we never lack of a topic. He even tells me about a route not far away, where I can drive through a nice park instead of the crowded city, which I later will take.
Once I finished my meal, I asked him if I could take a picture of him and the store. He admits and even takes his sister into the picture. His sister Manuela even gives me two oranges for the way and I promise to write them once I am home again.
Giuseppe and Manuela
It takes about two hours from the street sign "Milano" to the centre of the city. Milano is the capital of fashion and I am pushing my bike through the city while I'm driing my socks and underwear attached on the bikes back. With my red and white dress I'm looking quite strange here but surprisingly almost nobody takes note of me. I try to take some pictures in front of the Dom but people keep walking through the picture, so I don't get a really good picture.
at the dome in Milano
In order to find a place to sleep, I drive five Kilometers East, but the people in Campo Nomadi tell me to go away. It will take another time at a "Campo Nomadi" until i realise that these camps are made for workers only. So I decide to go back to the citiy core and watch the city a little bit more.
After two hours I leave again and tryiing to find a campplace. It is already 6pm and i desperatily try to find someplace but there are either high fences or the places are full of garbage or don't look inviting at all. The sun almost vanished when I make a turn into a field. Under a few trees I set up my tent and right after I finish, the sunset shows me its most wunderful colors.
In the morning, a tractor stops right next to the street where I have my tent. I already fear that the farmer will chase me away but luckily he's just adapting something on his tractor and keeps driving away.
I let the Gps lead my way, bad decision. Instead of having nice asphalt, I struggle through potholes, stoney paths, potholes filled with water deep enough to make my shoes completely wet and mud. When I finally see some asphalt street, there is some typical italian phenomen. The street is closed without any hint on any former traffic sign or so. So I have to drive half a kilometer back and try another route until i finally find the right way.
I had to take a break at a carwash and clean my bike. But from then on I can drive on nice streets and make a good pace.
On a crossing an old man on an even older rusty bicycle asks me a question. It takes me a second until I realise that he speaks german. As I tell him, that I am on the way to cremona, he offers to show me a nice route to there. I am glad to have a little company and we slowly drive through the countryside, while his dog Siegfried is running by. Pio, as the old man is called, has learned german on different vacations in austria. Even though he speaks with strong accent and very slow, thinking about every single word, I can easily understand him. we talk about this and that and I once more regret not having learned some italian before.
Pizzighettone
We finally arrive in Pizzighettone, a village with a great old tower and a huge wall around it. pio offers me to show me around a little and I thankfully agree. He shows me a beautiful church, the walls and at the end of the tour there is a little festival called "Re Uovo". They serve different meals with eggs and you can eat them in the chambers, that are right inside the city wall. Pio wants me to stay a while and even brings me the menu but I have to refuse. I'am sorry that I have to leave him so soon but It is just 4pm and I want still reach cremona today.
I soon arrive in Cremona and after looking at the city, I find mylef once againg liôoking for a campground. My Gps shows two campingplaces, lets give it a try. The first one is nothing else than a field with one burned out camper, and fuck it, the second one is nothing more than a ruin too. But this time I am lucky. Some people tell me that there is a new one just 400 Meters away and yippiiie there is actually one.
It feels great, having a shower after 4 days and while I eat my pasta in front of the tent, I feel as sitisfied like I didn't do for a long time.
