First Day Walking

 It was the first day walking and we decided to take the regular route which is 3 mile shorter and much flatter than the ‘alternate’ route.  It was a good choice.  We walked thru mostly suburbs and a little bit of countryside.  There were a lot of churches - some small ones set in the neighborhood no bigger than a small room.  There was not much elevation change which helped.  The big challenge was that it was hot - high of 85 - so we made sure to drink a lot of water and Dianne dumped water on her head several times to help cool off. 

The one large church was beautiful and we always say prayers when we visit a church.  We enjoyed the churches and getting in tune with our walking.  The total distance was 12.3 miles so not too long.  

We got to our hotel and took a break.  I went out to get a bottle of white wine and we sat and sipped it while getting off our feet.  

We had a little bit of excitement when Dianne was taking a shower/  The water   overflowed across the bathroom floor and under the hotel room door and down some stairs in the hall.  The owner pounded on the door as he watched the water cascade down the steps outside our room.  Dianne had not noticed the issue and was enjoying a long and leisurely shower.  He had a mop and a bucket and was trying to staunch the flow into the hall.  I got Dianne to stop the shower and we figured  out the shower drain was clogged.  She finished her shower in short spurts so it would not overflow again.  Quite a bit of excitement. 

We went down the street to a family restaurant and had a wonderful dinner.  Though it seems like every dinner in Italy is wonderful.  We sat next to other Camino walkers and chatted about our experiences.  The wife was from South Africa and the husband was from the UK.  They had done other Caminos so we had a lot to talk about.  Then back to the hotel and into bed.  


















Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Kidney Stone and We Got Our Camino Certificates

Image
The day started at 12:30 AM when Jack began to have pain in his right hip area.  It took awhile but he finally decided it had to be  kidney stone which happened in August in Yosemite. It was the right kidney and it hurt pretty bad - but at least he knew what to do.  He downed two strong painkillers and a ton of water and after a few hours the pain was a lot less.  He tried to sleep but that wasn’t happening.  Another pain med and more after around 5 and things kept improving.   We decided to head out to St Peters around 10 and he felt a little dizzy but the pain was pretty much gone. The walk went slowly but it still a lot of fun to walk thru Rome.   When we got to St Peters we were able to jump the long line by showing our Via Franchigena passports and we went right to the front.  Once inside there was about 20 other hikers getting their certificates.  It was so fun to get it filled out inside the church entryway.   We toured St Peters ...
Read more

On To Hiking In Cinque Terre

Image
  We were sad to leave Siena and the end of our Camino adventure. It had been a wonderful experience and we were glad to see so much of the wonderful Tuscan countryside.  Our next step was Cinque Terre which is on the Mediterranean coast north of Pisa.  We had an interesting train experience with one train badly delayed and another not leaving the station on time.  In the end we reached Monterosso del Mare about 3 and that was our plan.   Cruising in trains is something we’ve always enjoyed as the countryside rolls by without the stress of driving.   Monterosson is the largest and most northern of the 5 villages.  We are staying in the same hotel Dianne stayed several decades and actually go the same room which we wanted.  It has a lovely balcony over the Main Street below with a spectacular view of the Mediterranean.   Our friends Jim and Sandy arrived at exactly the same time.  We sat on the patio drinking and talking till it was suppe...
Read more

Checking the Ferry and Had An Adventure Today

Image
  Yesterday was Thursday and we decided to take it easy.  We had a slow start and had lunch very close to our apartment.  We have decided to avoid two big meals each day.  We hiked down 200 vertical feet to the harbor to figure out how the ferries worked.  Then hiked back up!    We went for a 5 o’clock wine nearby and enjoyed watching the people go by.  They buildings are very close together with 10 feet between them.  This is the old town and only scooters and bikes can go down the narrow streets.   We love watching the people - all kinds of people - all shapes and sizes and countries.  Then back home for a snack of cheese and percutto and wine.  It was a nice day in sorrento. Today we planned on a hike out to the Roman ruins at the end of the isthmus.  We walked up to the top of the hill above sorrento and the views were great.  We were on a narrow road and a small garbage truck headed right for us with not much roo...
Read more