Day 3 – stage 1 of Coast to Coast
Awful night last night. My ear, jaw and neck were so painful, I just couldn’t get comfortable. Ibuprofen helped a little but not much. Googled it this morning and it could be due to the air pressure changes when flying, especially if you’ve had a cold.( which I have). Should clear in a couple of days so fingers crossed.
Felt very groggy this morning but an Americano and a chocolate croissant from my new favourite coffee shop put the world to rights.
Despite our attempts at minimalism, our rucksacks are stuffed full and rather heavy. I didn’t want to weigh mine as everything in it is essential (S probably wouldn’t agree with this ) and what’s the point of knowing I’m basically carrying a 9 month old baby on my back for 13 miles?
We staggered out of the Palazzo Ambra and started day one of our mini adventure.
The first part of stage 1 was getting out of Soverato along the coast road and finding a smaller road that would take us away from the sea and up into the hills. For most of the time, there was a path alongside the coastal road but now and again we had to walk on the road which wasn’t ideal. Luckily it was a Sunday morning and most of Calabria’s more reckless drivers were still in bed.
Eventually we found the minor road we were looking for and from then on we saw very few cars.
We were going upwards most of the day but the ascent was reasonably gentle and the olive groves, darting lizards and blue skies kept us happy. The biggest issue was carrying our packs but after quite a lot of stopping and starting to take them on and off, we eventually got used to them. A slower walking pace helped too.
The signage by the custodians of the CTC hike is excellent. In fact their support is fab. You can WhatsApp them if you get lost, have an emergency etc. Makes it very easy and safe for even the most fearful of walkers. They have even put little tiles up along the way with inspirational quotes to keep you going.
Having said that, by the time we were a couple of kilometres from our b&b for the night in San Vito Sullo Ionio , we were all out of inspiration and just needed to get our boots off and put our packs down. Unfortunately that was not to be as our b&b was rather difficult to find and what we did find, we definitely didn’t want. The village (which we think is probably fairly typical of the area) is a strange mishmash of modest but modern homes intermingled with buildings that should be demolished but probably have a very, very old person living in it.
We eventually found our accommodation (directly opposite some derelict houses) and our lovely host welcomed us in. We were both very relieved to find we had an en-suite and can forgive a fridge-freezer in the room which is purely there for decoration along with a very basic bed.
After a shower and a change of clothes, we hit the town and went to find a bar. While Steve savoured a refreshing beer, I made do with a coffee as I’m trying to do all I can not to have a rerun of last night (just in case alcohol makes it worse) . Luckily there was lots of comings and goings in the bar to keep me amused, in particular people who disappeared into the back of the bar never to be seen again.
Our restaurant this evening was called
Foglia d’Oro and the menu looked fancy -tasting menus and such like. Excited to show off my new look of walking trousers, less than fresh T-shirt, flip flops and no make up, I couldn’t wait to rub shoulders with the uber glamorous Italian ladies. Luckily there were no such people , in fact there were no people at all until a bit later.
The guy serving us was charming, and was in partnership with his brother who was doing the cooking. We had the 5 course tasting menu which was good but some of it wasn’t to our taste. The freebie Calabrian liquor was however very much to Steve’s taste and quelled his desire to go to the bar down the road for a night cap which was great for me in my role as reluctant alcohol-free martyr.
Tomorrow we head for Monterosso Calabro, a similar amount of ascent as today but 3 miles less. A lie-in beckons.
The ubiquitous ape
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