I’m never really alone, you know. As I started my climb out of Cesana, I heard a plaintive cry, “Wait! I’m coming with you!” After turning the first bend my shadow caught up to me and took the lead. “Is it going to be steep?” Giving a pointed look towards Grandma Friday, I replied, “No, not too steep.” On the next turn my shadow hung ...
Tomorrow I climb up to the pass at Monginevro and say good bye to Italy as we cross into France. I do want to point out that although the Tour de France also climbs up and over the same pass, the cyclists take the less steep direction and let their sag wagons carry their suitcases. Grandma Friday and I have also heard that some of ...
Not long after Turin everything begins to change as we wind up and into the Susa valley. The riding is only a gentle climb at the entrance to the valley, but we have clearly arrived in the Alps. The mountains rise up on either side of the valley, jagged and majestic. The treeless alpine areas are just above us. Yesterday Gord mentioned that it’s like ...
We arrived in Torino early yesterday afternoon after a 30 km walk in pleasantly cooler temperatures. Following a nap I pulled out my electronic map to have a look at the Wikipedia points in the city. “Damn,” I thought, “We screwed up, we need several days to see the sights in this city.”We have not had a rest day since Slovenia, more than a month ...
For a few days, from Piacenza to Vercelli, we were on a functioning pilgrimage route, though we were moving counter to the flow. The Via Francigena from Canterbury to Rome has become more active than when we walked and cycled it in 2012 and 2013. Years ago we met nine pilgrims on the entire 2000 km route, but there are now perhaps four to six ...
“We are going to be crossing the Alps, Ruth,” Gord announced with surprise. Where was he for the last week when I was talking about the climb and worrying about how steep it would be with the trailer??? I am always surprised to realize how amazing he is at tuning me out! Yesterday our proximity to the Alps became real when we could see Mont ...
Normally we find our accommodation through the Booking app. Occasionally, however, the app does not have properties where we need them, so we have to consult other sources and make a phone call. This isn’t a problem for us in Spain or France, but our Italian is almost nonexistent. So when we made a recent reservation at Agroturismo Lo Stagno we didn’t quite catch the ...
Today we passed through the small town of Sabbioneta. It is completely enclosed within Renaissance walls, and has UNESCO status in conjunction with the city of Mantova (Mantua). Both places were ruled by the Gonzaga family, who produced a saint and a shocking number of bishops and cardinals.I have lost track of the number of UNESCO sites that we have visited on this trip. Every ...
We have spent the last two weeks moving slowly across Italy on and off the Via Postumia. Our best days are always the ones Andrea Vitiello has carefully planned on either the cycling or walking Via Postumia . For reasons of time and availability of affordable accommodation, however, we are sometimes cutting corners and taking more direct routes. These straighter routes are more efficient, but ...
I’m sitting in the waiting room in the hospital at Cittadella. I had a brief glimpse of the intact medieval walls before turning into this large modern brick structure. Yesterday a watched a blood engorged tick backing out of my leg after a good feed. I could almost see the satisfied grin on its face. The area is still red and looks a little like ...