[Mar. 2023] I’m not talking about the trip itself this time, but have you ever had the experience of a parked rental car disappearing the next day?
It happened to us.
While staying in Seregno, Italy, about 25 kilometres north of Milan, we parked our Hyundai rental car in the town’s large open-air car park.
One Saturday, when we went to the car park to get the car, we found that the whole parking area was turned into an open-air market.
We both turned pale.
Come to think of it, my husband had told me that a market might be held here.
We didn’t know it was every Saturday.
We went to the area where our car was parked, but of course there were no cars, only clothing booths.
My husband asked the woman who was the vendor there, and she was kind enough to call a police officer she knew, Maurizio, and told us to go to the police station on Via Umberto I.
Fortunately, it was within walking distance, but it seemed that it was closed because it was the weekend or because of the timing.
I was panicked for a moment, but a police officer on duty took care of us and gave us the address of the garage that our rental car was towed.
At that time, the police asked, “Hyundai?”, so we knew that only our rental car was towed from the car park.
Well it would be so.
All the locals know about the market, don’t they.
Since the garage was quite far and it was not possible to walk there, we went to the station to catch a taxi.
Luckily, a taxi was there.
By the way, apparently there are only 3 taxis in Seregno.
This taxi driver was also very nice and kind, and when we got to the garage, he got out with us and made sure our rental car was really there.
And the old man in this garage was also a nice person, and he responded cheerfully.
The towing fee was €130.
Of course, we also paid a parking fine on top of this.
It’s a painful expense, but we just had to pay these anyway.
I felt warm seeing the nostalgic Calimero hanging in the office window of the garage.
The conversation between my husband and this old man got lively, and when we picked up the car and left here, the old man said, “Let’s meet in London next time.”
My husband said, “Call me when you get there” and he said “Book a 7 star B&B for me”.
In any case, we were fortunate enough to be able to resolve the issue on the same day.
If this had been a Sunday, this might not have happened.
At first, I was very worried about what would happen, but in the end, thanks to the kindness and cheerfulness of the people, it was a memorable experience that made me laugh.
