Today, the Girod'Italia passed through the part of Italy we've been walking through last March and last June. So we watched and pointed out the places we recognised to each other.
The poor cyclists had the same pouring rain we had in March, and with the wind chill factor, it was just as cold. Hopefully, we will have friendlier weather when we return in 10 days!
Sonntag, 12. Mai 2013
Freitag, 3. Mai 2013
The last legs of the journey
I know I've been far too quiet, not letting you know about what happened last year when we walked, and not about the first part of this year's pilgrimage...
But I can tell you now that I just managed to secure the train tickets and book all the rooms we need to arrive in Assisi. If all goes well, it will be quite soon: we'll arrive on Tuesday, 28 May. This will give us a day and three-quarters in St. Francis's and Clara's town before we return home by night train.
I have been asked to talk about our family project publicly once we're done, and writing the blogs will be a good preparation for this, so I hope I won't fail my promise to write more this summer!
But I can tell you now that I just managed to secure the train tickets and book all the rooms we need to arrive in Assisi. If all goes well, it will be quite soon: we'll arrive on Tuesday, 28 May. This will give us a day and three-quarters in St. Francis's and Clara's town before we return home by night train.
I have been asked to talk about our family project publicly once we're done, and writing the blogs will be a good preparation for this, so I hope I won't fail my promise to write more this summer!
Dienstag, 18. September 2012
Things are different from what you think
Again, a few months have passed between our return and my time at the computer keyboard. I hope you readers will forgive me.
Our way from Bologna to Firenze was full of surprises. We had expected a very dry country, rolling hills with cypresses. Probably we had been distracted by pictures from Tuscany. But I would want to travel there to confirm the landscape there is really that!
Between the two cities, the Apennine is moderately high (we culminated at about 1100m, or 3500 ft), but steep, we had several ridges to pass. Much of the ground is crumbly sandstone. North of Firenzuola, about the middle of our trip, there is a mountain that consists of such brittle stone that it forms a natural kind of rough gravel. The gravel works there don't need to break it down, they simply scoop up what is eroded naturally with big machnes...
The plant life was extraordinary, too. Just the richness and density of the vegetation was awesome. I often thought "I hope this is really a well-travelled trail and not a dead end" because the plants grew so thick there would not have been a way through aside of the trails. They were really kept open only by the people using them, like elephant trails in the Savanna.
And we saw a lot of special plants, wild orchids for example, the largest of which came up to my tigh! The broom was in full bloom and where it was abundant, the smell was almost overwhelming. Only on the afternoon of the last day did we get into a landscape as expected, hot and dry with cypresses and the songs of the cicadas.
Our way from Bologna to Firenze was full of surprises. We had expected a very dry country, rolling hills with cypresses. Probably we had been distracted by pictures from Tuscany. But I would want to travel there to confirm the landscape there is really that!
Between the two cities, the Apennine is moderately high (we culminated at about 1100m, or 3500 ft), but steep, we had several ridges to pass. Much of the ground is crumbly sandstone. North of Firenzuola, about the middle of our trip, there is a mountain that consists of such brittle stone that it forms a natural kind of rough gravel. The gravel works there don't need to break it down, they simply scoop up what is eroded naturally with big machnes...
The plant life was extraordinary, too. Just the richness and density of the vegetation was awesome. I often thought "I hope this is really a well-travelled trail and not a dead end" because the plants grew so thick there would not have been a way through aside of the trails. They were really kept open only by the people using them, like elephant trails in the Savanna.
And we saw a lot of special plants, wild orchids for example, the largest of which came up to my tigh! The broom was in full bloom and where it was abundant, the smell was almost overwhelming. Only on the afternoon of the last day did we get into a landscape as expected, hot and dry with cypresses and the songs of the cicadas.
Mittwoch, 23. Mai 2012
Meeting other pilgrims
Sometimes, pilgrims turn up in very unexpected places. Today, I did some last-minute shopping, some cosmetics. The saleslady added some sunscreen samples and I thanked her, saying this was a very good idea because we were going to need it soon.
She then asked where we were going and when I told her, she said "you know, I've been to Santiago di Compostela twice" and we began to chat a little. We departed after an exchange of cards with a "nice to have met you" and "Buon Camino",
She then asked where we were going and when I told her, she said "you know, I've been to Santiago di Compostela twice" and we began to chat a little. We departed after an exchange of cards with a "nice to have met you" and "Buon Camino",
Montag, 21. Mai 2012
Last-minute concerns
Early on Sunday, the news put a question mark to our project: an earthquake had occured in the Emilia Romagna, it was reported. Half of this year's route is in that region, so I was following the news closely.
As the day wore on, it became clear that the area affected was the one we had travelled through last year, and not the one we will walk through next week. So last night, I wrote e-mails to all our hosts, corfirming that we would come. Some have already been answered, confirming that there was no damage in the province we're travelling in.
As the day wore on, it became clear that the area affected was the one we had travelled through last year, and not the one we will walk through next week. So last night, I wrote e-mails to all our hosts, corfirming that we would come. Some have already been answered, confirming that there was no damage in the province we're travelling in.
Mittwoch, 9. Mai 2012
All done now
I hardly can believe it... I got all the internet work done for this year's leg of the pilgrimage: all accomodations are booked, the data transferred to my journal. I do still prefer the paper journal, I am afraid of what would happen if a smartphone ran out of juice in the middle of nowhere!
We're following the route described here. I've bought the guide book, and of course, I'll need a dictionary to understand everything. But since I have to take a small dictionary anyway, that's not a problem.
To think that even five years ago, I knew next to no Italian and now I can book accomodations, order meals, go shopping and explain to people what we are doing is amazing! I love to communicate, that's probably the key. And people have been so friendly and encouraging all along, even when false friends were leading me astray or my grammar was entirely my own.
I'm very much looking forward to our holiday, we'll leave on the early morning of 26th May to take the train to Bologna and will come home on the 8th of June, full of new impressions (and with bellies full of excellent food, I'm sure)!
We're following the route described here. I've bought the guide book, and of course, I'll need a dictionary to understand everything. But since I have to take a small dictionary anyway, that's not a problem.
To think that even five years ago, I knew next to no Italian and now I can book accomodations, order meals, go shopping and explain to people what we are doing is amazing! I love to communicate, that's probably the key. And people have been so friendly and encouraging all along, even when false friends were leading me astray or my grammar was entirely my own.
I'm very much looking forward to our holiday, we'll leave on the early morning of 26th May to take the train to Bologna and will come home on the 8th of June, full of new impressions (and with bellies full of excellent food, I'm sure)!
Mittwoch, 2. Mai 2012
Preparations for the next leg
The book mentioned in the last post turned out not to be the right thing for us. The hike was divided into day trips of only 10-13 kilometers, and so would have taken about ten days. But that would have been boringly short for us, in that kind of terrain, we know we can do 20-25 easily.
So I went for a guide book in Italian that takes a different route with legs that are mostly 16-19 kilometers long, and I've managed to find us accomodation everywhere, and train tickets, too
So we will leave on the 26th of May and come back on 8th June, having spent a week on the hike and a week in Fiesole just north of Florence. I'm very much looking forward to it!
Abonnieren
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