Louisarambleson
Orta is a small peninsula with rather a large hill in the middle, Sacre Monte di San Francisco, or the sacred mountain of St Francis of Assisi. Yesterday we walked around the peninsula, this morning we went up to the top of the hill to visit the twenty 17th and 18th century chapels dedicated to... Continue Reading →
Today we had a lie in and a leisurely breakfast before saying goodbye to our neighbours and driving a relatively short distance to Lake Maggiore. We had a bit of trouble finding the stopover site in Baveno but got there in the end. After lunch we got the ferry to Isola Bella, an island with... Continue Reading →
Last night was really hot and sticky. We slept with every window open as wide as possible and didn’t even need a sheet over us. We rose quite early and John collected some croissants for breakfast while I made a drink. After breakfast we packed and left to make our way up to the Italian... Continue Reading →
We packed up and left Cogne at around 10.15. The journey to the Ligurian coast was uneventful… Well, apart from the toll machine shouting at me in Italian because I couldn’t work out where to put my payment card! The last part of the journey into Savona was a masterpiece of engineering. The two carriageways... Continue Reading →
Fuelled by last night’s rather large pizza we set off early to make our ascent of Punta Pousett. It was a little cloudy to start with but the clouds soon disappeared and by 8.30 it was hot and sticky in the forest. We were glad to reach open meadows where there was a bit of... Continue Reading →
Another stunning walk with all the attributes of yesterdays’s on a much grander scale. We set off early knowing this walk would take about 7 and a half hours and it was going to be another hot day. The ascent was only partially shaded but I was quite pleased that I didn’t struggle too much... Continue Reading →
This morning, after a long lie in, we tidied and swept the van, did some washing and went shopping. Then after lunch, we caught the bus to Valnontey and visited the botanical gardens. They were a little disappointing: partly because the flowers were past their best, mainly because we had seen so many more vibrant... Continue Reading →
Our walk today began steeply up what was obviously a ski run in winter. The ski lift was running but we need to get used to the ascents as we have some bigger hikes planned later in the week. Plus we need to acclimatise to the altitude. We had the track to ourselves until we... Continue Reading →
I didn’t manage to eat dinner last night, nor did we manage to pack for the walk today. However, after 11 hours sleep I felt much better and we decided to go for it. We dashed around, getting washed and dressed, making breakfast and butties and packing our rucksacks, and we just about managed to... Continue Reading →
We were woken by thunder and lightning and, when I looked out of the window, even though it was 8 o'clock it was dark enough for the street lights to still be lit. We had breakfast in bed and spent the morning reading. By 12ish, the rain had stopped and the sky was brighter so... Continue Reading →
Ramblings 