Back on my feet!

Well sort of!  A couple of days ago I set off walking in the cool of the morning, which fairly quickly built up to a hot and humid day.  I walked very carefully, and sucessfully about half the distance - only to be thwarted by "road works", or I should say dam (or do I mean damn?) works!

It makes such a difference having people going out of their way to be helpful, which is what happened at Rovereto with the delightful tourist office official - the opposite to my experience in Trento.  Not only did she take the time to explain how to pick up the path again, having bussed it from Trento, but she found me a lovely B&B at a good price with delightful English speaking hosts.

Had a great time in Rovereto.  I managed to get to sing in one of the churches for nearly half an hour!  I went exploring and somehow ended up on the wrong road and found myself in the hospital car park, with the road I wanted to be on on the other side of a wall - so scaled it and jumped down the other side!  Also managed to get to a free outdoor concert that evening with a Greek band, all acoustic.  Even though it was outside I could hear every note sung, played and spoken.

A streetscape in Rovereto

A view of Rovereto from the hospital car park!

A fountain in Rovereto, looking towards the mountains.

The path had followed the River Adige, and I stopped on the outskirts of the village of Mori.  After taking a detour off the path and casting my eye to left and right and seeing no other options available I ventured into - Golden Arches!!!!  (MacDonalds!). It was when I tried to return to the path that I discovered the signs telling all cyclists to follow the road.  It was disapointing, but as the cyclists were following the instructions I decided that I should too - except that I had no intention of walking on the edge of a busy road for 7 or 8 kms, and so my only option was to return to the Mori rail station and catch the train.  Here I had the unusual experience of helping a young man of about 18 buy a ticket from the machine (at his request).  I had bought one using the English option on the machine, but he spoke no English and so I did this using the Italian option, with the only Italian I know being musical terms, which didn't help much in this case!

Just some of the many mamils passing me!

The cyclists are well catered for on this stretch of the path.  Here's a rest stop for them, complete with a cycle stand.

Coming down through the Tyrol I couldn't believe how many apples there were grown - mile after mile of orchards, but they have now been replaced by grapes.  The vines remind me rows of skinny little legs!

          You can see here how the grapes grow, and how easy they would be to harvest.

At one point, as I sat resting on a seat, admiring the fast flowing river and a stretch of what I suspect was Roman Road and trying to ignore the MAMILS (middle aged men in lycra) who were riding past in their droves (women too - and, I must be honest and say the whole age spectrum, young to old), the only non Lycra clad man stopped and had a long chat with me about what I was doing.  Then further down the track one of the council workers mowing the verge stopped as I passed for a chat.  He was from Algeria, and I presume his job was to relay all the gossip to his co-workers!  The day concluded, with dinner in the shadow of Monte Baldo, chatting with my dinner companions Jim and Lisa from California

                 

A fountain in the village of Ala where I spent a lovely evening with Jim and Lisa.  Thought the name of the place where it was was special too!

The next day I continued following the cycle path, still in the shadow of Monte Baldo (or it would have been if the sun was in the right direction) and still following the river.  I was delighted to find that my feet held up having walked a full day, but at the village of Borghetto I stopped walking and hopped on a train to Verona.

A bend in the river, heading through the gap in the Dolomiti (Dolomites) to Verona.

The Castello di Avio, on the outskirts of the village of Avio.

Borghetto, on Flume Adige.  I stopped here at a bar near the church and had a lemonade before catching the train to Verona.

I had an ulterior motive, but more of that in the next post.  Suffice it to say that I have been in Verona for 2 nights, and have got another 2 booked.  It is HOT, humid, expensive and crowded.  It is a lovely city, but I am finding the crocodile lines of tourists following their guide, the small groups that amble slowly along, and those that stop suddenly or take the whole width of the footpath very tedious.  I look forward to getting back on the road again, though I have a feeling that this leg might be partially bus / train due to the fact that there may not be a designated foot / cycle path.

The Arena in Verona, and no, this is not repair work, but more of this later.