32oC (Lucca) to 20oC (Great St. Bernard)
(By Jim and Laurel)
Ricola … Ricola … We’re not in Tuscany any more!
Leading up to Lucca, we met a Dutch couple who had started the VF in Aosta. Their descriptions of the Valle d’Aosta were amazing. We had read online that the Great Saint Bernard Pass had finally been plowed and was now open for the season, so we wondered if we should stop swimming the VF upstream and start going with the flow of the guide books and all of the other pilgrims. After all, we had originally wanted to start in Switzerland and walk to Rome, but our schedule and snow had thwarted those plans … until now.
We have noticed that we cannot keep up with the stages in the guide book and have been breaking some of them into two. If we keep going the same direction (i.e. Northward), we may run out of time before we get to the Alps. So, if we would relocate to the Alps now and pull a double reverse, we could be walking with Heidi towards Lucca (i.e. Southward). We also decided to cut out the Lausanne to the Pass portion (all uphill) and save it for another time (life?). As well, switching direction reduces the uphill portions that we’ll walk. So that’s the rationale for how we got from Lucca to the Great Saint Bernard Pass and are preparing to begin our trek back to Lucca from Switzerland.
Rail travel: Lucca (top), change trains in Florence (brief stop, bottom left), change trains in Turin (scenery leading to there) to Aosta
Okay I am car (bus) sick just looking at it! How did you make out? It sounds like your decision to reverse your path is a good one. Buen Camino!
ReplyDeleteWell, it was an exciting ride for sure! Stomachs held firm, though!
DeleteOmigosh Laurel and Jim, what a great idea! This makes so much sense. And now you will have pilgrims to walk along with. I have been enjoying your posts so much; usually I save them for just before I go to sleep, so I can dream about walking through Tuscany or--now--through the Swiss Alps. I hope your first day of walking over and down (!) the other side of the pass is as beautiful as my imagination says it is. And you get to finish in Lucca, which is such a lovely city (I like it much better than Siena; more open and airy). Keep the posts coming, and keep on trekking!
ReplyDeleteThanks Lea! The pass is beautiful and the hostel is wonderful! Sun shining with air so cool and lovely. Time for breakfast and then off we go!
ReplyDelete