Sunday, May 25, 2014

Filleto to Aulla May 25

                                                       Current Day.                             Trip to Date

Total Miles Walked                             13.5                                          151.8

Total climb-feet.                                  1150                                        11,385

Net Climb- feet                                   (280)                                          2208

Song of the day:  Groovin by the Rascals:

Just groovin' on a Sunday afternoon

Really, couldn't get away too soon

No, no, no, no

We'll keep on spending sunny days this way
We're gonna talk and laugh our time away
I feel it coming closer day by day


This was a very enjoyable hike- Relatively short at 13.5 miles,  lots of climbing and descents through a heavily wooded area on a beautiful spring day.  As with prior days, the spring run offs have made the trails very muddy in places.  Our shoes and pants were very dirty by the conclusion of the hike and we probably looked like refuges from some 3rd world country.

On Saturday night, we had an enjoyable meal at a restaurant in the medieval village of Filleto.  Each fall,  Filleto hosts a opera festival, held in the large square where the restaurant is located.  Many famous opera singers appear at this event.  I believe I have seen a film about this on PBS.  The owner of the restaurant showed us photos and signed plates from singers Pavrotti, Placido Domingo, and several others.  She also mentioned other famous people who have eaten there, including George Clooney.  Although the meal was the most expensive meal we have had, it would not even rank in the top 3 meals we have had to date.

I had mentioned previously that our hotel was right next to the church, where the bells rang every half our throughout the night.  Then, to add insult to injury, there was a big Sunday market that was held in the square in front of the church.  Unfortunately all the vendors started setting up their stalls at about 6:30.  So, all in all, not a good night's sleep.

The lack of sleep however did not deter from a terrific walk. We passed through several little ancient villages along the way.  However, there were no services along the way until we reached the outer portion of Aulla.  By the time we got there, we were famished, as we had not had any breakfast.  The bar had the usual assortment of chips, etc along with two small, pathetic looking sandwiches.  Then I noticed a sign on the wall- "HOTDOGS"!  Well hell yes we will have a hot dog!  For us, it was a terrific treat.  How many hot dogs have you had with lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise?   We felt so good about this hot dog that we present here for you:


Entering the village of VillaFranca on Sunday morning:



Some very muddy areas.  The going was very slow through these areas.


A beautiful waterfall along the trail:



When we reached Aulla, we caught a train to La Spezia, the gateway to the Cinque Terre.  For about the first 5 minutes of the 20 minute train ride, we went through a tunnel.  I later checked, and if we had hiked out of Aulla, we would have had to hike over a large mountain.  Probably would have taken us 5 or 6 hours to do what the train did in 5 minutes!

Tomorrow, we are walking about 5 miles from La Spezia to the sea side village of Porto Venere.  From Porto Venere, we will catch a boat to Vernazza, where we will stay for two nights.  Unfortunately, the weather forecast is a 90% chance of rain on Tuesday, so we will see how that goes.  Here is a map of the cinque Terre that I captured from the Internet:


Hopefully we will have Internet the next few days and able to post regularly.

In the meantime, we would like to send out a Happy Memorial Day to our friends and family in the USA.

One last point, the San Francisco Giaants had a very good weekend, sweeping the Twins.  The Giants are now 6 wins, 3 losses and I suspended tie game since we left and remain firmly in first place.  I religiously wear my Giants ht on this hike.  So far, it seems to be working.

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