Meandering to Jerusalem
Oct 2010 31
Petra continues to recover. Neither of her joints, the ankle or the knee, were hurt. She can move both well, though not completely. She exercises the joints often. Two bandages cover the surgery sites and she has much less pain. She continually compares the process this time to that of 13 years ago when [...] [...more]
Petra continues to recover. Neither of her joints, the ankle or the knee, were hurt. She can move both well, though not completely. She exercises the joints often. Two bandages cover the surgery sites and she has much less pain.
She continually compares the process this time to that of 13 years ago when she broke her other leg. The procedures have improved a lot in the intervening years. I think it helps that St. Martino Hospital where she is here in Genoa is a university teaching hospital. They try new things more quickly in a place like this, I think.
Petra says, “I’ll now have an Austrian leg and an Italian leg and I have never been in a German Hospital.” The other leg was operated on in Austria.
Now that the initial shock is over, it is clear that it was a bit premature to pronounce the pilgrimage over the other day. We clearly cannot walk to Jerusalem now. But we do really want to arrive there. We can go by plane or boat instead. We’ll need our cart back, or another one, for me to push the baggage. Petra has enough to do to manage herself with crutches.
But before moving forward Petra’s leg has recover a while, likely somewhere here in Italy. It’s not time to go back to the US yet.
This is a wilder meander than we were planning on when we said we were going to meander this half of the pilgrimage.
So don’t stop checking in on this site now and then. And though plans will change again and again, there is more to come…much more.
Comments: 5.
Oct 2010 29
They put a pin in Petra’s leg this morning. She is hurting but doing well. Now it is time for her body to heal. [...more]
They put a pin in Petra’s leg this morning. She is hurting but doing well. Now it is time for her body to heal.
Comments: 0.
Oct 2010 28
The pilgrimage is over. Yesterday afternoon in the mountains south of Sestri-Liguri, Petra slipped on loose dirt along a narrow path and fell and broke her left leg. We were quite remote. She was helicoptered out to St. Martin’s hospital in Genova-Nervi. She is in full command of everything except her leg, which is saying, [...] [...more]
The pilgrimage is over. Yesterday afternoon in the mountains south of Sestri-Liguri, Petra slipped on loose dirt along a narrow path and fell and broke her left leg. We were quite remote. She was helicoptered out to St. Martin’s hospital in Genova-Nervi. She is in full command of everything except her leg, which is saying, “You cannot move.” And she cannot.
Both lower bones are broken, the larger has a heavy spiral break. They will operate tomorrow morning to put it together and place a pin in the larger bone. This is the second break for Petra. She broke the other leg 13 years ago and went through a similar procedure to repair it then.
After initial recovery for a couple months or more here somewhere, we will be returning to the U.S. and looking for a more permanent place for extended recovery. If anyone out there has a place or knows of a place for us, we would appreciate any help you can give us. We are leaning towards the southwest or west where it is warmer and dryer for a winter recovery. But we are open for suggestions at this point.
As Petra said last night, “this is a brutal way to end our pilgrimage.” But it is done, for now anyway. So thanks for following us. I will follow up here for a while to let you know our progress along this new path.
Comments: 7.
Oct 2010 24
Last night we came out of the mountains back down to the sea. We spent three days walking paths between 500 and 1,200 meters (1,600 and 4,000 feet). As you can imagine with those numbers, there was a lot of up and down. The first day was a long up followed by several long ups [...] [...more]
Last night we came out of the mountains back down to the sea. We spent three days walking paths between 500 and 1,200 meters (1,600 and 4,000 feet). As you can imagine with those numbers, there was a lot of up and down. The first day was a long up followed by several long ups and downs ending in one treacherous and long descent back down to around 500 meters (1,600 feet). It was so steep that we had to hold onto trees to keep from slipping down the muddy, rooty path. It was work.
We ended that day in a large, old hotel (Alberge Liguri), the only place we knew of in the village. (We found another the next morning, but it wasn’t a match for the one we were in-we made a good choice without knowing it.) We were only five people in the Liguri. But the restaurant made us a fine dinner all the same.
The next day was the work day, more than 800 meters (2,600 feet) up and up and up. The path was often full of rocks washed free by water coming down the same paths we were walking. The paths were once stone paved roads but long since eroded to stone stairways up the mountain side. We had little we could do except concentrate on the next step, let alone steps. It was another work day. We saw little except rocks, mud walls, and trees. And on top we came to a forest of microwave relay towers surrounding the place we wanted to stay. We refused and walked another few kilometers to another refugio where we had a cool night with a warm-hearted young family trying to make an ill-kept-up place into a nice place of rest. We enjoyed our night.
Yesterday could have offered spectacular views because the trees were gone and the road was much easier to walk. But as in other times of life, fog closed in and we were only offered glimpses of the mountains and Mediterranean far below. Only later in the day could we finally see some of those far views.
When we arrived at our chosen alberge for the evening, there were no rooms. The rooms were closed for the season. But the owner gave us a ride down to the next town. And what a ride. The mountains plunged from the road to the sea. He said that this place is the most steep and high descent in all of Italy.
Failing to find a place to stay on the mountains, we caught a quick bus ride down those mountain to the outskirts of Genova (Genoa) and eventually found a hotel for the night.
Today we walk Genova along the sea.
Comments: 0.
Oct 2010 21
This morning we begin walking on the Alta Via di Liguri, a long path through the mountains that parallels the arc of the Italian coast from Ventimigli to La Specia. We have walked the coast a week and now we will go the same in the mountains. We took a bus up from Savona last [...] [...more]
This morning we begin walking on the Alta Via di Liguri, a long path through the mountains that parallels the arc of the Italian coast from Ventimigli to La Specia. We have walked the coast a week and now we will go the same in the mountains. We took a bus up from Savona last night to Altare where we will catch the path.
Check out the path at Alta Via dei Monte Liguri. Use Google to translate it if you cannot understand Italian at all. But the maps can give you an idea without knowing Italian.
Off to the mountains.
Comments: 0.
Oct 2010 18
Yesterday we walked through a beautiful Menton, France among runners in some long-distance run and on into Italy. We stopped at a boulangerie on the border and bought our last French croissants, croissants that will forever remind us of the best of French foods—at least for me. As the road went through a mountain [...] [...more]
Yesterday we walked through a beautiful Menton, France among runners in some long-distance run and on into Italy. We stopped at a boulangerie on the border and bought our last French croissants, croissants that will forever remind us of the best of French foods—at least for me.
As the road went through a mountain at the sea we walked around along a path on the steep coast along a narrow path over a railroad and back to the road. Then there were more paths, the road again, and a couple tunnels. We followed a very old roadway-now-path around a half-mile tunnel only to find ourselves far above the road on the other side. After climbing down and through a fence, we walked the railroad before getting back to to road.
A short time later we spotted a sign to the B&B Acqua di Mare. There we stayed in a beautiful room. It has a couch and a large bed-luxury.
Another fine day on our meandering to Jerusalem even with the rain that dogged us from two on the rest of the day.
Now we go down for breakfast.
P.S. The breakfast was great and the cappucino was even greater. It is amaizing how a border can change coffee from being mediocer to being outstanding. It is good to be back in Italy.
Comments: 0.
Oct 2010 16
After 59 days and over 760 miles (1,230 kilometers) we have only a few kilometers left to Italy tomorrow morning. In the past few days we have walked and taken several local busses traversing mountainous Côte d’Azure (the Rivièra) from Fréjus to Menton along the Mediterranean. It is a beautiful meeting of water and land. [...] [...more]
After 59 days and over 760 miles (1,230 kilometers) we have only a few kilometers left to Italy tomorrow morning. In the past few days we have walked and taken several local busses traversing mountainous Côte d’Azure (the Rivièra) from Fréjus to Menton along the Mediterranean. It is a beautiful meeting of water and land.
Seems a lot of the world’s money has crystallized in the mansions and palaces and marinas along the coast here, especially from Nice to Monaco. And the tourists seem to be drawn here also. We saw a lot. Walking was good.
the roads gave us a bit of a shoulder most of the time to walk on. But all the splendor was a bit too much at times. We decided to move faster than our feet would take us, especially where the traffic was particularly heavy.
Cannes was a bit too much of itself, not very interesting. Nice on the other hand was quite nice for a big city. If we were staying around for a while, I would like to spend more time exploring its streets. Monaco was not at all interesting. Too many huge boats in the harbors, too much money in the streets.
So now it is on to Italy, our seventh country. We passed through our sixth, Monaco, in a couple hours this afternoon.
We really enjoyed France. But as enter Italy we hope for better beds and bigger hotel rooms where we can relax a bit. The room we have tonigh doesn’t even have a chair. I have to sit on the bed to write this–or go outside where it is now getting cool in the evenings.
Comments: 1.
Oct 2010 14
When I begin to pack 3 October, the day after Petra and I walked separately, I notice in a panicking way that the tent is not tied to my backpack as usual. I still have the ticket to the bus so I find their phone number on the internet. It’s Sunday morning; they’re closed. And [...] [...more]
When I begin to pack 3 October, the day after Petra and I walked separately, I notice in a panicking way that the tent is not tied to my backpack as usual. I still have the ticket to the bus so I find their phone number on the internet. It’s Sunday morning; they’re closed. And there are no busses running either.
Maybe I lost it before I got on the bus. We take a bus back to Eyguieres where I began my ride the night before. We walk back up the path where I had rested and could have left the tent. No tent. We walk farther. No tent. We walk back into town. No tent.
A bit about the tent. We bought it specially for the pilgrimage. It is made of very light and strong material to save weight. We have used it in several places, once in a huge thunderstorm on the Mississippi, and Petra twice set it up above 10,000 feet (3,200 meters) in the Sierra’s. It is a valuable piece of the equipment we carry.
Now we can only wait for Monday morning. We spend the rest of the afternoon walking the village streets among hundreds in one of the biggest flea markets I have seen in a long time. Everything is for sale. It looks like they havs emptied their houses of all manner of goods accumulated over the past fifty years. And, yes, there are people buying also-a lot of them.
The next morning after breakfast, I head to the bus office. A long line of monthly-ticket buyers greet me at the door. When my turn finally comes, the woman calls a couple people, gets the bus line number (10), and gives me the name and number of another company, the one I was actually on. I call. He will call me back in 15 minutes. Petra has the phone. I call her. No answer. I return to the hotel. No call. Frustration increases.
On a hunch (maybe rather as a last-ditch attempt), I go to the bus stop. Wonder of wonders, Bus 10 is there. It is time for his morning stop. And the same driver is driving. I ask. He points to the luggage rack over my seat. Voila, the tent. It’s there.
We celebrate two nights later by camping in our returned tent. Thank you, Universe.
Comments: 1.
Oct 2010 14
We’re resting today after 13 days mostly on the road (though we didn’t move far a couple of those days). We’re just short of Cannes, France on the Mediterranean. Were staying in a religious hotel, Villa Saint-Camille, a very nice place with full pension and a balcony overlooking the Med, all for a very reasonable [...] [...more]
We’re resting today after 13 days mostly on the road (though we didn’t move far a couple of those days). We’re just short of Cannes, France on the Mediterranean. Were staying in a religious hotel, Villa Saint-Camille, a very nice place with full pension and a balcony overlooking the Med, all for a very reasonable price.
The tourist season is winding down here so the numbers of people that crowd this Azure Coast in the summer are much smaller. We are enjoying out time walking along the Med. But Petra has walked closer to the water than I. We happened on a path right on the rocks along the coast. I managed a half a mile before I chose to return to the road. It was pretty with crashing waves. But it was also on steep, narrow paths both at water level and several yards (meters) above the water on jagged rocks.
Yesterday we booked this Villa stop not realizing just how far it was forward of where we had walked. We ended up taking a bus 9 km (6.3 mi) back to take a train forward. The bus ride was jumpy and jarring and the trains on strike. We ended up taking the same bus back down the coast to a point farther east and then we walked the last miles here. The busses and train situation were a bit more stress than I preferred but the walking in the morning and afternoon was a delight. So goes this day in our meanderings.
Comments: 0.
Oct 2010 11
We are meandering east well. tonight we are a few kilometers east of Le Muy just west of Frejus on he Med. Walked a lot of good miles in the mountains, and road a few in some busses. The population is getting thick. Maybe it is time to move to a place of less people. [...] [...more]
We are meandering east well. tonight we are a few kilometers east of Le Muy just west of Frejus on he Med. Walked a lot of good miles in the mountains, and road a few in some busses. The population is getting thick. Maybe it is time to move to a place of less people. More later.
Comments: 1.