I believe it was January 2002. We were driving for a two week ski holiday in the Italian Alps. We stopped for the night somewhere past Munich and then come 7 AM, we set to drive again. It was snowing heavily but nothing that winter tires and chains cannot handle. Somewhere before the Italian border (still in Germany, but around 300 km before the border), there was a massive road accident. By massive, I mean, twenty or so cars involved, several people injured, etc. And we couldn’t advance anymore, neither forward nor to go back. We were just trapped there. Ambulances and debris removal services couldn’t reach the crash site because of the snow storm. I spent 12 hours locked in the car with no food and just a bit of water. At a certain point I had to pee. Really needed to. So I ventured outside, to the side of the road (we were in the middle of nowhere surrounded by cars and trucks). I decide I am going to be brave and walk across a field to find a secluded area where I could go. It started all right, with just snow up to my ankles but the further I advanced through the field, the worst it got. Suddenly I had snow up to my thighs. Almost up to my waist. And I couldn’t move forward anymore. I found a small tree not far from where I was standing, slowly advanced towards it and peed there. I am sure the entire highway could see me covered in snow and doing the deed right there. Then I painstakingly made it back to the car. Where I had to spend the next six or so hours in wet, cold jeans, socks and boots. Not the best start of the holiday.
(This was not my worst road experience, though. That would be last year, when a storm of such proportions took place between the French border and Barcelona that trucks were tumbled all over the road and the cargo was swept by the wind like toys. That was absolutely terrifying to witness).
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