Welcome to Transeurotrek.com - 1st Trek: Italy
Germany Munsterland to Brandenburg
France Aveyron to Haute Provence
FROM NORTH SEA TO MEDITERRANEAN
Italy
TENTH SECTION Saturday 12 to Saturday 19 March 2006 Porto Ceresio (Lombardy) to Besate (Lombardy) along E1 and roads – 202Km (2006Km).
Rough crossing of Lake Lugano from Switzerland to Porto Ceresio in bright, sunny, bitter weather and on a high sea blown up by gale force winds. We rushed away from the shore to get away from the biting wind and started a long slow winding climb through a rocky massif to 1100m. Beautiful views with patches of frozen snow all around. Entered Valganna which was ice-bound with late heavy snow and very cold. Walked into the valley for a long time on frozen snow. Stayed in the worst hotel in the world at Villa Cesarina - bitterly cold, little heating and very little food occupied by louche locals smoking for Italy and watching the Milan derby on TV. Hard climb out of the valley through the frozen snow to the Campo di Fieri where the 360 degree views were spectacular. Long descent south away from the snow and ice from 1125m to 500m along rough stony tracks through old woods and deep piles of old leaves to Gavirate where our hotal turned out to be 40 Km away! But after a great effort we found a local one to take us.
We had now left the mountains and were in the plain of the Po and Ticino rivers west of Milan. Gentle walking, which was as well as we were tired from the icy steep slopes. The lovely River Ticino is really big and wide and clearly very important for the rice growing agri-industry. After 2000Km of energy-giving northern European breakfasts the poor Italian breakfasts were a blow but were made up for by the evening meals of course. Wide pleasant pasths along the Ticino - still frosty but now the sun was warming us up. The paths were poorly marked and there were no footpath maps available, so we used motoring maps and followed minor roads, consequently there was a lot of roadwalking. Huge canals for the irrigation of the paddy fields but dry in winter offered the opportunity to get off the roads and to follow them through the fields. Bars and cappucinos along the way kept up our spirits. Got lost many times because of the poor maps and signage. Finished at Besate to find total local confusion over buses - where and when they went. But we had a great dinner in Bereguardo and lunch in Milan the next day before flying home.
ELEVENTH SECTION Friday 6 to Saturday 14 October 2006 Besate (Lombardy) to Genoa (Liguria) along E1 & Alta Via dei Monte Liguri – 174Km (2180Km).
The final stretch began with an unplanned detour into a mosquito infested swamp along the Ticino with everyone getting badly bitten. Then two days trudging along busy roads - in the absence of a known footpath system - no walking maps nor footpath signs - on dead flat agriclultural terrain to cross the Ticino and the Po rivers. We were unable to see the rivers clearly because of rain and mist. This was a dismal section. However at Tortona the terrain became hilly and was lovely through to the Ligurian hills above the Mediterranean coast. Classic Italian skylines of old villages, churches and vineyards. Not much better marked but a summer scouting trip enabled us to find the route along small roads and paths. Finding accommodation was a real struggle but we eventually found lovely farms which were comfortable and served delicious food. Stayed twice in dormitories, first in a farm – planned, and then in a hotel which had lost our booking – unplanned. A mixture of chestnut woods with ripe chestnuts falling around us, carpets of mushrooms, grapes ripe on the vine and mountain vistas. Finally, rose excitedly before dawn for the descent to Genoa. We caught the sun rising ahead of us as it became a warm pleasant day through the woods, then escarpments above the Mediterranean – no views because of the polluted air! Easy, traffic-free route into Genoa along old mountain and valley tracks and into the old harbour. Journey's end.
DISTANCE IN ITALY – 322Km = 201 miles
DISTANCE FROM NORTH SEA – 2181Km = 1363 miles
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