I woke up at the B&B after a good night of sleep and had some lovely French breakfast and even got to take some extra food for on the go.
I walked back to the gas station that didn’t bring me much in the dark. But now I got lucky after only 15 minutes.
I got picked up by a nice guy named Marco. He’s Italian but lives and works as a car engineer for Renault in Paris. He agreed to take me to Lyon, so I could explore the south of France and possibly Spain.
After getting to know each other a little better, I found out that he was actually visiting his parents back home in Turin. I let him know I didn’t really care to go to Italy and actually liked the idea. So he agreed to take me all the way.
After picking up 2 other people in Chambéry, which is just before the Italian border, we continued the trip to Turin.
We arrived in the center of Turin around 5PM I think. I just walked around for a good hour through the city center. There was a market where I could try some nice local food samples. It wasn’t that much but enough for that moment.
I tried contacting some people on Couchsurfing and got lucky to get a host for the night. He told me he would be home close to midnight and sent me his address.
So I had some time to explore the area and made sure I was 3 km northwards at midnight.
And as agreed my host showed up. His name was Samuel, a young guy from Nigeria who is trying to build himself a future in Italy. Unfortunately, he didn’t have that much success yet.
Nonetheless I had a great stay with him and as soon as I woke up and said goodbye to Samuel, I had the plan to find my way to Parma.
The easiest route to Parma is the E70 highway. But it’s located all the way in the south of Turin. I did some research and found out that it would either be a 3 hour walk or pay €1,90 for a train ticket.
Waking for 3 full hours is just a little too much with the backpack on. So the train it was. When I got out, I had to find my way to a nearby gas station. This was quite a challenge. With soggy fields to cross and then have to find my way around and over some fences. But the beautiful view was so worth it. And I made it unscathed.
Finally there, I went in to the restaurant and asked for some cardboard. They had to ask a costumer to help translate but explained me there was a big container at the back where I could take as much as I wanted.
I crafted myself a new sign for ‘Parma’ and made way for a good spot in the morning sun. So far so good right?
Well, I kept a very positive mindset for the first 2 hours, cause I was simply really enjoying the view and the weather.
After those 2 hours I felt like I had to change my approach and went back to the container to make a new sign. This one saying E70.
About 3 hours in i started to lose hope. I browsed some websites and posted my trip there. Close to an hour later a got a reply from someone willing to help me and bring me to Parma.
He told me to meet in a spot in the center of Turin, so I walked and took the train back there. After a short walk from the train station I arrived at the location.
I got another message that he was going to be 2,5 hours later and also had to pick someone up in Milan before he went to Parma.
Not knowing what else to do, I agreed to this and waited. I also contacted an old friend, close to Parma, I had an exchange program with 12 years ago. I asked her if she knew someone in Parma that would be able to host me and pick me up around 1AM.
She told me she could pick me up and host me! Giusy, you’re the best! You really saved my day.
At this point we’re waiting for the guy we had to pick up and will be off to Parma as soon as he gets here.
Good night!
30-11-19 22:30
nobudgettravel 