TMB - one day down, ten left

Well today we started the tour of Mt Blanc, an 11 day walking tour around the Mont Blanc massif, covering about 170 km and ascending and descending around 8000m at least. We all were ruthless in deciding what to put in our packs but still they seem so heavy - probably 8 or 9 kgs each.

We made today a little easier by taking a cable car up 600m, but still we were stuffed when we arrived at Hotel Le Grizzli in Les Contamines. The pack did seem to get lighter by the end of the day; maybe because we ate lunch and drank water, or maybe we were adjusting. Tomorrow will be a test as we have to ascend 1300m and descend 900m. If we survive thqt the rest of the tour should be doable.

There is no Internet cafe here but the hotel owner is letting us use his notebook. However the French keyboard is a chqllenge as the letters A and Q are swapped around and I have to keep correcting things.

Graeme had quite some difficulty with breathing on the Zermatt walk so we are hoping he is ok tomorrow with the altitude being a couple of hundred metres lower.

There will probably be no more posts until Courmayeur in 3 days.

The Cinque Terra – more stunning villages clinging to the cliffs

We got to the Cinque Terra easily by train. Prices here are way higher than Florence. We are paying about the same for our apartment as in Florence but it is about one third the size. Our bed is in the kitchen! The bathroom is so small you can barely dry yourself after showering.

Today we took the train from Monterosso where we are staying at the north end to Rio Maggiore at the south end, and did the 5 villages walk back. It was great – see photos. Quite a bit of up and down and stunning scenery. It’s a bit of a worry that we only walked 10 km and ascended maybe 180m and we are exhausted – that
is nothing compared to what we’ll be doing on TMB next week.

John has been learning Italian for a couple of years now and is finding our group’s pronunciation of Italian a trial. Cinque Terra is pronounced Chinkwa Terra but Graeme insists on Sankwa Terra. Meanwhile Sue can’t get her head around duomo (cathedral), pronounced dwommo – she insists on doomo. John keeps correcting but to no avail. Surprisingly I still remember the bit of Italian I picked up over 30 years ago when my mother learnt Italian and played recordings constantly at home.

Italy - Amalfi, photos, trains and troubles

We had little time to get to an Internet cafe in Amalfi; hence the long delay between posts. Above are some of the photos from there. We had a great 4 days there and were set to have a great 3 days in Florence when the day from hell hit.

Yesterday we got to the train station at Salerno at 1030 am and did not get to Florence until 11pm!! We waited hours as the trains were delayed due to some protest that had blocked the lines. To cap it all off while walking from the station to the apartment (no taxi at station!) Graeme was approached by 2 guys who chatted and appeared friendly and then promptly stole his wallet from his pocket - normally it is in the bum bag but alas not this time. So we then had to phone Australia (at $5 a minute I think) to cancel the cards - not a fast process as you go through the automated menus and get put on hold. I dread to think how much the phone bill will be.

On the plus side - Judy's luggage has turned up, we still have a flexi card for getting money from our savings account, our apartment is magnificent (3 huge bedrooms, separate lounge and kitchen and even a washing machine and dishwasher), and Florence is as beautiful as ever although there are too many tourists - wish it was only us! Graeme will fill in details soon no doubt - he loves keeping the blog updated, especially with embellishments.

Santorini – Far from the Madding Clients

A bit over a week ago I was still sweating over clients’ problems; now that seems like decades ago. The photos say it all – constant sunshine, picturesque villages, stunning sunsets, azure blue seas. Plus good food and a bit of an up-market hotel. We are in the honeymoon suite of Blue Suites, supposedly a 4 star hotel and quite nice but not what we would call 4 star at home. We do have 2 balconies (one for morning sun and one for afternoon sun), a 4-poster bed, a large sitting room and a lovely pool. But we do NOT have a plug for the bath, shampoo or tea and coffee making facilities. And the “buffet” breakfast is hardly inspiring.
We have shifted from a motor scooter to a 4WD all terrain vehicle (see photo). Lots of people are driving around in them, probably because they are cheaper than a car and do not require a motorcycle license. Yesterday we explored the south end of the island, today the north. Santorini is crescent shaped and is the rim of a volcano that massively exploded around 1600BC. It is almost unique in having the caldera of the volcano in the sea. Other islands to the west make up the rest of the crater rim. Tomorrow we are going on a boat tour to see the volcano centre, hot springs, etc. Then we fly to Athens and the next day to Rome where hopefully 5 of us will meet up at Rome station for the train trip down to the Amalfi coast.
Time to go to the pool for a dip and to read some more of “Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants” – quite appropriate since it’s partly set in Santorini. Then before dinner it’s down and up the 600 steps and 250m vertical to the sea, a daily effort to stay fit for Tour of Mont Blanc.