18th May 2015 Aulla to Sarzana
17 (long and difficult) km
Beautiful, but very hot, weather
Short version:
Walked on extremely difficult mountain paths with beautiful views but also with (thankfully some shade). Finally arrived in Sarzana
Longer version: (very, get yourself a cup of tea…)
When I was getting ready to leave the hostel I heard voices & went out of my room & found 3 people who must have come in late last night. Couldn’t work out what nationality they were as there seemed to be a mixture of languages but the man spoke some English & said he had a cousin in Australia. I made breakfast at the cupboard kitchen the Italians are expert in, some fruit, bread & tea. On leaving the city on a beautiful morning I went straight to a nice cafe for my cappuccino as there would not be many options en route as I was straight over the river & on to a road leading up to mountain paths.
Within 700m of leaving the hostel I was going up from 75m altitude to 275 over 1 km in woods and the paths were treacherous! My walk right along the summits of the Jura mountains had not prepared me for such paths…the guide book warns walkers, especially in autumn, to check what is under their feet & the fallen leaves… I came up out of the woods on to a road with relief & discovered the 3 pilgrims from the hostel. I thought they were Romanian.
We took photos as it was such a clear day and the scenery was spectacular. I started off before them again along a path going up steeply over a short distance to 350m before tackling another rocky path up having to pay attention with every step. I was so worried about slipping on the rocks, shale & ruts and other obstacles in the path that I just kept thinking that I had to keep going well ahead of the Romanians as they would be my safety net in case of problems… The only positive point was that much of the path was shaded so the heat was generated more by my forcing myself to go ahead rather than the beating sun… Whenever I was out in the open the beauty of the landscape was a consolation for what I was coping with.
Up to the little spectacularly-situated village of Bibola which I did not enter but I saw the terminus stop of the local bus. On the other side of the village I met a woman walking up to it with a container of wild strawberries. She offered me one which I declined & asked her where she had found them & she pointed to the sides of the road – her eyes are better than mine as I did not see any! A little later a man came towards me walking his dog who was attached to the waist of his shorts by a cord – dog didn’t bark which I complimented him on & he just smiled. I ploughed on over a path up & down at more or less the same altitude to the medieval village of Vecchietto where there were only a few older people & of course dogs. But what views. See photo of one terrace – a room with a view!
There were several little vegetable gardens, wherever it was possible to plant something, and I saw one bent-over old lady hoeing a little culvert between her rows of vegetables to let water run down the slope. Next door there was a house which was looking for all the protection it could get, the Italian flag, the Beware of dog sign, video-surveillance sign and just down the steps into the garden there seemed to be a statue of Snow-White! And not a soul around.
I saw the “Romanians” again & set-off to remain ahead of them. Then another section on terrible paths up another 200 m over 2.5km. It was taking me 30 mins per km and this was only because I kept saying to myself “The Romanians are coming”…which spurred me on, otherwise it would have taken me longer… At one time I could hear them in the distance but never saw them again. Up and down until I got to the beautiful & spectacularly-situated village of Ponzano Superiore 200m lower. Can you believe I didn’t look in the guide book to see that there was a bar in the village (but as it was Monday it may have been closed) but this was a more prosperous village with several cars parked in a piazza. There was a trompe-l’oeil on the side of a house so I should have reasoned that there might be other possibilities here.
Splendid views and I went up off the road to a small cleared area and I saw the sea!
Following the signage I came to an open place but couldn’t see the way to go when a man appeared up a path with a dog (which didn’t bark) & pointed me down there & when I remarked on the difficulty I’d already had he reassured me and as I turned to leave him he tapped me twice on the shoulder like a blessing! Going on I passed a public wash-house with marble scrubbing board so. Am wondering whether it is still used…
You may think going up a mountain is hard but going down can be worse, especially with the state of tracks such as these which sometimes resembled river beds with deep culverts. I could never have made it without my sticks which were a God-send.
I would strongly encourage anyone considering such a walk to have their trusty sticks with them as I was so thankful of mine all the way. The other unsung heroes of the day were the people who marked the route, often with two white and a red horizontal painted bars, sometimes on painted tin plaques, in the most remote places. How reassuring to come around a bend, or even on a straight path, to be able to look up & see them.
I slowly worked my way down lower to the outskirts of Sarzana and it took me a couple of km to get into the centre of town, the part I like least about bigger places, as with villages one is either in or out very quickly.
I eventually got into this charming city with a lovely old centre with many piazzas and found my hotel. Went to the tourist office and you guessed it, closed on Mondays, but I got a map from the hotel. The hotel recommended a bar/cafe which was also closed on Mondays but I found another next to a grocery shop where I stocked up on fruit. I asked the woman if she’d be open in the morning to make me a sandwich but she said she’d have to ask her husband what time he was opening…as it was his turn to do so!
The young woman in the bar was lovely and I sat there for a long time drinking my pot of tea (which she refilled for me) & finally I decided to have a Prosecco before dinner. It took a while to come & finally she appeared with a big tray of 8 different types of nibbles to have with my drink!
I was looking forward to a seafood meal as I was virtually next to the sea in Liguria. I had a fritto misto of prawns, calamari, octopus, etc in a very light batter which was delicious but I couldn’t eat more than half of it – I think my pilgrim stomach must be shrinking…
Oh, and by the way, Napoleon’s family was originally from here before they went to Corsica. This town has much history so off into your history books you go!